A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

A Natural History of the Senses is a vibrant celebration of our ability to smell, taste, hear, touch, and see. Poet, pilot, naturalist, journalist, essayist, and explorer, Diane Ackerman weaves together scientific fact with lore, history, and voluptuous description. The resulting work is a startling and enchanting account of how human beings experience and savor the world.

It asks and answers such questions as: How do perfumers know which scents allure? Why does music move us? How did kissing on the mouth begin? What is our craving for chocolate? It illuminates the phenomenon of pheromones and looks into the question of whether they control us. Incorporated in its superb reporting and splendid prose are fascinating facts: Humans have about 10,000 taste buds, cows 25,000.  What are they tasting, and what are we missing? It probes such everyday mysteries as why leaves turn color in the fall and why we see them in color; and what it is that causes lovers to feel delight when they touch.

A Natural History of the Senses is at once an ingenuous exploration of the physical processes underlying our perceptions and an eloquent ode to life — a rare combination of science and poetry.

331 pages (May 1990)

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Reading Guide from BookMovement.

 

A Natural History of the Senses (from the author's webpage) 

40 Great Book Club Discussion Questions for Any Book from Book Riot

 

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Author Website

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A Natural History of the Senses Great Books Lecture from Johnson County Community College:

 

Title Read-alikes: The Sensational Past by Carolyn Purnell; The Planets by Dava Sobel; Touch by David Linden; Sapiens by Yaval N. Harari; The Scent of Desire by Rachel Herz; Brain Sense by Faith Hickman Byrnie; The Smell of Fresh Rain by Barney Shaw; Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard; Flavor by Bob Holmes; Smellosophy by A. S. Barwich; The Rituals of Dinner by Margaret Visser; and A Year in the World by Frances Mayes.