The Smell of Fresh Rain: The Unexpected Pleasures of Our Most Elusive Sense

by Barney Shaw

What do we actually mean when we say that something smells of fresh paint? Or frying bacon? And what does five o clock in the morning smell like? Inspired by an unsettlingly synaesthesic question put to him by his son, Barney Shaw looks into the science of peering behind its sensory nature to discover its complexities, and finding surprising beauty in its processes. We use smells to communicate, to warn us of danger, to give us a sense of place, and as a form of social messaging - it is one of the primary ways in which a mother bonds to her kin, for example. But smell has other, less obvious a sniff of peppermint can increase alertness and productivity, and introducing a slight whiff of fish oil into the environment will make people scrutinise information more closely. An investigation into the biology, psychology and history of smell, and a search for effective ways to describe things we instantly relate to, but find strangely ineffable, The Smell of Fresh Rain , includes a 200-entry thesaurus of succinct descriptions of common smells.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Psychology

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 7, 2017

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petrichor: that would be the alternative title for this book about the often-neglected human sense of smell. In avoiding that lovely but obscure word, Barney Shaw is making a specific point: we don’t have an everyday vocabulary for talking about smells; there are specialist terms and concepts, but try to depict an ordinary scent in words and you may struggle.

I’m intrigued by the related senses of smell and taste in general, so I was delighted to find a whole book on the topic. Shaw, a retired UK civil servant who served as a private secretary to various government ministers, approaches the topic as an amateur enthusiast rather than a scientist, so his language is never overly technical and he ranges between history, anatomy, literature and even self-help.

Much of the book was researched “on location,” as it were. Shaw travels to Portsmouth to grasp the signature smells of the seaside; visits a hardware store to differentiate the odors of different metals (they release no smell on their own, only in contact with human skin/sweat); returns to his hometown to discover the smells associated with suburban gardens and different types of High Street shops; and sniffs at butcher stalls, pubs, and London Underground trains. With his son, blind from birth and autistic, he sets out to capture “the smell of 3 a.m.” as early-morning market sellers set out their mushrooms and cheeses.

Shaw also travels through time, imagining what it might have smelled like in the mid-nineteenth century or earlier: raw sewage, cooking smoke, animal dung, and laundries and tanneries with their reek of stale urine. Once many of those stinks were eliminated, bad smells became associated with the working classes (as in the work of Maugham and Orwell) or with foreigners, a continuing prejudice that fuels xenophobia. The book also traces the rise of the perfume industry and other artificial smells like scent diffusers and vaping. Shaw is uncomfortable with the idea of natural scents being replaced by synthetic ones, and notes the environmental consequences of our obsession with abolishing body odor: “The price we pay for hygiene and deodorants is in the pollution pumped out by a billion washing machines and … soap, toothpaste and washing powder flowing down to the seas.”

There are fascinating facts on pretty much every page of this book; I won’t bore you by listing them, but will just say that if you’re interested in exploring the connections between smell and memory in life and in literature, in discovering what makes the human sense of smell unique, and in learning some wine-tasting-style tips for describing odors, this is the perfect introduction. I noted a bit of repetition in the book, especially at chapter openings, but that didn’t keep me from being as enthralled with the subject matter as Shaw, a passionate tour guide to the olfactory world, so clearly is.

Originally published, with a personal anecdote and some suggestions for further related reading, on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Jay Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me want to run into the kitchen, open all the jars and tins, and sniff everything. Why? Because on the basis of the evidence in this book, the vocabulary available to us to describe smells is entirely one of analogy, so the greater the variety of smells you already possess, the wider and more accurate the analogies you can draw. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the other senses - everyone knows what you mean when you describe something as red or pink or cherry - the entire range of the spectrum seems to be available to us from an early age - but even in our pensionable years we may still be encountering new smells that cannot be simply categorised as fishy or fruity or leathery. It's an entirely different kind of sense experience, due to the vagaries of the molecular makeup of odors.

This is a fun and interesting book without providing any piercing insights or revelations. It will most likely leave you wanting to explore the subject more widely, I suspect. Mind how you go.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Barney Shaw's autistic son asked him what 3 O'clock in the morning smells like, he genuinely didn't know how to answer him. His son is a musical genius who has synaesthesia, so he decided the best way to answer this was to get up at that time and head out on to the streets of London, visiting Billingsgate and New Covent Garden to discover from themselves what the scents and smells are around that time of the morning.

It got him thinking though, how do we smell? What do we smell and do we smell the same things as everyone else? To answer what seems to be a set of simple questions is going to take a lot of unravelling. It will take him to the coast and boatyards, into Harrods to smell the food and the most expensive perfume in the world. Down to Dorset to a charcoal burner, to try and get a grip of the complexity of the aroma of coffee and baffling the owners of a hardware shop as he asks to smell the products. Occasionally he ventures back into history to learn about the big stink and the time when parliament decided that they couldn't bear the smell from the Thames. All this makes him thirsty, so a trip to the pub is called for, to smell the beer and the crisps and run a little experiment with those in the bar.

Shaw's considered and curious prose makes this book, on what most would consider the weakest of our senses, endlessly fascinating. His journey around the more aromatic places searching for the scents that tell a story, or evoke memories from many years ago has ended up with him compiling a list of 200 or so different things along with different elements of that particular item described. It is not academically rigorous, but that shouldn't take anything away from this fine musing on scents and smells.

[Allebara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is beautifully written. It is a mix of eloquent descriptions of smell that make you think “that’s so true, I never thought of that”, with interesting scientific facts to back the prose up. Really recommend it to anyone who likes popular science books.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some very interesting things, including a bit about smell memories which I’m very keen on. However it was still quite theoretical at times, and a bit academic, I found.

[Suzana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read about anosmia in the context of the current pandemic, I felt like delving more into the topic. And this book was a good choice: a fun and fascinating exploration of the most elusive of our senses.

[Denise Skilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!! This is a wonderful book. Well written and well researched. It kept me captivated from cover to cover.
This book is about our sense of smell and it opened up a whole new world to our most misunderstood sense. How do you put into words a smell?
Barney takes you through the smell that instantly takes you back to a memory, more so than any other sense. Smell is strongly connected to the emotions. The smell of fresh cut hay, my grandfather’s pipe tobacco. The smell of fresh fruit pressures.
Barney to you through childhood memories. The meaning of smell. The stink of Victorian London, because of unwashed bodies and open sewers.
The exotic smells of perfumes, and how to describe them. The earth smell of wine and of incense.
The smell of times of the day.
I loved this book and was a bit disappointed when I came to the end as I wanted to read on. This is a book I will certainly read again. This is a wonderful treasure.

[Brian Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and thought provoking, it has given me a new perspective and appreciation for my sense of smell and rekindled my interest in exploring olfactory sensations. I like the advice on how to approach discerning smells and using simple everyday language to describe them.

I found it really interesting the comment that if you place interest and pay attention to your olfactory sense, you can train your ability to discern smells increase the associations to language and other senses enriching/enhancing your sensual experience of everyday life.

Also I like the idea that paying attention to the moment and what we smell, makes of live a little more in the present.

[Masnoon Majeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting read for anyone who wants to begin to understand our wonderful sense of smell. It covers biological, social, and cultural aspects of this sense through the lens of the personal journey of the author to understand the sense of smell. Reading this book will definitely help any reader to become more attuned to this sense, and to begin appreciating and enjoying it more in everyday life.

[Patricia Reckrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone intrigued by smell-memories and eager to learn why they last a lifetime will find answers in this little book. Anyone who wants to tune into the power of smells, is baffled by their complexities, has wondered how to better describe them might find answers in this little book. Anyone who wants to explore this mysterious sense of smell in their own life needs to pick up this little gem of a book. They are in for a treat.

[Abraham Axler · Rating 2 out of 5]

He tries really hard but fails to come up with a way of describing smells

His descriptions in the back don’t allow someone to read and guess what he is smelling

The book also doesn’t have enough science

[Ephrem Upart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful look into my favorite sense: smell! It was very easy to read, even the neuroscience that I was not familiar with before was fairly accessible. Reads like a novel at certain chapters! Highly recommend!

[Jennifer Fredin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book on the sense of smell. Very well written. Quite enjoyable.

[Louise Davy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed examination of smell as an under-rated sense. Full of fascinating information and thought provoking ideas. I'll be bringing my olfactory sense to the fore.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 I'm such a sucker for lyrical prose.

[Sophy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as I'm fascinated by the human body and all its functions and am a pluviophile to boot! The book is fabulous, different sections related to different aspects of smell and olfactory function. Two random things I'll take away from this book, the latin name for the skunk is mephitis mephitis!!! How cool is that! Imagine a skunk mum calling a littlun in for dinner, "mephitis mephitis your tea's ready"!!! Also, hyenas have a gland by their bum that secretes a butter!!! They rub it in stuff to signify the clan, all the clan recognises the scent and develop a hyena butter scent! See what gems you're missing!! Read it if you like smelling stuff!

[Marzi Pecen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. Our sense of smell is underrated and most people don't understand what makes up taste or how our sense of smell contributes to it. Unfortunately, after reading this book, the common misconceptions and newly made up facts will continue to obfuscate the facts.

My opini0n of this book changed several times as I read it. The author is passionate about the subject and wants the reader to join his cause. His enthusiasm is infectious until he uses a term incorrectly or gives an unfounded fact. The descriptors in the index wouldn't give anyone a clue of what he was talking about. Except for his description of Cedar.

There is a prescribed language when speaking about taste and smell. Whether in a flavoring lab, in a tea shop or at the dinner table a common language helps us communicate. We agree on specialized terms in the industry that are agreed upon with specific references. His frequent reference to the smell of rope being "meaty" was confusing and his use of value related words (good, evil, foul etc) are judgment calls on his part that have nothing to do with smells. We all react to smells differently according to our personal history, our experiences, the culture we grew up in and our genetics. He recognizes this fact intellectually but fails to reflect this in his descriptors as he talks of smell and taste.

I could accept inaccuracies if this was written 10 years ago and new research brought to light more accurate information, but, this was published at the end of 2017. There are other books on the market that are older but accurate by Avery Gilbert and Rachel Herz and Mary Roach has chapters on taste and smell in her book Gulp & her more recent book Grunt.

Good for the author writing a manifesto on his view of how smell should be respected in the world. Take it at that. His view of the world of smell and no more.