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On the Scent: Unlocking the Mysteries of Smell -- and How Its Loss Can Change Your World
A fascinating exploration of how losing our sense of smell can shape our world, and how the global pandemic transformed our understanding of this mysterious sense.
When award-winning reporter Paola Totaro lost her sense of smell to Covid in March 2020, her world changed and dulled in an instant. Trapped in a sensory vacuum without fragrance or flavour, she embarked on a journey of discovery to unravel the mysteries – and eccentricities – of the fifth sense.
Our sense of smell shapes our everyday experiences in ways we often don’t even notice. Its loss can affect our emotional wellbeing, our relationships, our ability to interpret the world around us – and yet it has long been regarded as the least important of our senses. But almost overnight,
Covid changed everything. As it became clear that loss of smell was a key symptom and the number of sufferers exploded, olfactory researchers suddenly found themselves thrust into the spotlight, with more attention, subjects and funding than ever before.
On the Scent is the story of a quest for answers, from the theories of ancient philosophers to the cutting-edge laboratories of 21st century neuroscience. It looks at the extraordinary experiences of patients and scientists alike, offering a unique glimpse into the world of those born without smell as well as those who lose it; exploring how smell can be a key indicator of declining physical health; and showing how new research may offer hope to the millions of people worldwide who h ave suffered sensory loss.
When award-winning reporter Paola Totaro lost her sense of smell to Covid in March 2020, her world changed and dulled in an instant. Trapped in a sensory vacuum without fragrance or flavour, she embarked on a journey of discovery to unravel the mysteries – and eccentricities – of the fifth sense.
Our sense of smell shapes our everyday experiences in ways we often don’t even notice. Its loss can affect our emotional wellbeing, our relationships, our ability to interpret the world around us – and yet it has long been regarded as the least important of our senses. But almost overnight,
Covid changed everything. As it became clear that loss of smell was a key symptom and the number of sufferers exploded, olfactory researchers suddenly found themselves thrust into the spotlight, with more attention, subjects and funding than ever before.
On the Scent is the story of a quest for answers, from the theories of ancient philosophers to the cutting-edge laboratories of 21st century neuroscience. It looks at the extraordinary experiences of patients and scientists alike, offering a unique glimpse into the world of those born without smell as well as those who lose it; exploring how smell can be a key indicator of declining physical health; and showing how new research may offer hope to the millions of people worldwide who h ave suffered sensory loss.
- GenresNonfictionScienceMedical
306 pages, Hardcover
Published June 23, 2022
6 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 27, 2024
According to some people we have many more than five senses, with some even suggesting as many as 33! As far as I am aware I only have the five, sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, though my wife would disagree with the hearing sense sometimes.
At the moment they all seem to be working. I don’t have the strongest sense of smell, but the thought of losing even that does not appeal at all. Thankfully when I had a dose of COVID, I had no symptoms and could still taste and smell ok. When Paola Totaro caught covid in March 2020 she lost her sense of smell and her world changed forever.
It took a long while for it to return too and she had to retrain her brain and nose to smell again. It also prompted her to learn about this sense we take for granted. It turns out that COVID had given her anosmia, but thankfully hers was only temporary, unlike 1 in 10,000 who are born with it. She digs deeper into those that suffer from this illness and also a parallel illness called parosmia where they have smell distortions and things never smell quite right, the scent of coffee and poo are often associated with this.
This fascinating book does what all popular science books should do, take a subject that you know little or nothing about and makes you want to read more about the subject. I liked that she blended personal anecdotes with solid science, it adds depth to the narrative and for me the personal angle really worked when she expands from personal experience into the research behind it. If you want to understand a little bit more about the sense you probably think about the least then this is a good place to start.
At the moment they all seem to be working. I don’t have the strongest sense of smell, but the thought of losing even that does not appeal at all. Thankfully when I had a dose of COVID, I had no symptoms and could still taste and smell ok. When Paola Totaro caught covid in March 2020 she lost her sense of smell and her world changed forever.
It took a long while for it to return too and she had to retrain her brain and nose to smell again. It also prompted her to learn about this sense we take for granted. It turns out that COVID had given her anosmia, but thankfully hers was only temporary, unlike 1 in 10,000 who are born with it. She digs deeper into those that suffer from this illness and also a parallel illness called parosmia where they have smell distortions and things never smell quite right, the scent of coffee and poo are often associated with this.
This fascinating book does what all popular science books should do, take a subject that you know little or nothing about and makes you want to read more about the subject. I liked that she blended personal anecdotes with solid science, it adds depth to the narrative and for me the personal angle really worked when she expands from personal experience into the research behind it. If you want to understand a little bit more about the sense you probably think about the least then this is a good place to start.
June 29, 2022
When I started to read this book I wasn't aware of the significance of the second part of the tag line. I assumed it was a book about the science of the much-underrated sense of smell - and part of it is - but the main theme is that 'how its loss can change your world' part. Paola Totaro lost her sense of smell early in the Covid pandemic, and this would have a big impact on her life, driving forward the urge to find out more about changes that can occur to the sense of smell.
Loss or modification of the ability to detect odours is more common than we tend to think, but has largely been ignored by the medical profession, in part because we tend to under-rate the importance of the ability to detect odours. Totaro covers both the total loss of detection and also the, arguably more devastating, situation where substances as innocuous as water, along with many foods, can start to smell disgusting - another common impact of Covid.
I'm not a great fan of 'me-centred' science writing, but there is enough on the science here to make it not feel too much like a misery memoir. And there were certainly various parts of it that were genuinely interesting. For example, I have never understood people's enthusiasm for coriander (cilantro) - I find the taste of it highly unpleasant, and it was a relief to discover that this is not at all uncommon. There were quite a few of those 'ooh, that's interesting' moments. Having said that, though, I did find reading the book a bit of a slog - there weren't enough points of engagement, and a lot of the painstaking discovery of what was happening was... well, too slow.
A literary agent I know always says when presented with a non-fiction idea 'Yes, but is it a book or a magazine article?' - it did feel in part that this was a magazine article expanded to book length. The other thing I found really odd - verging on the uncomfortable - is that the book is written in the first person singular, but is co-authored. It took me quite a while to work out that 'I' was Totaro. It might have been better, if such a personal approach was to be taken, if both authors had identified themselves in the text.
If you have lost your sense of smell or had it distorted - something that far more of us have experienced in the past couple of years as a result of Covid - I would strongly recommend this book. But as a general reader I came out of it slightly underwhelmed.
Loss or modification of the ability to detect odours is more common than we tend to think, but has largely been ignored by the medical profession, in part because we tend to under-rate the importance of the ability to detect odours. Totaro covers both the total loss of detection and also the, arguably more devastating, situation where substances as innocuous as water, along with many foods, can start to smell disgusting - another common impact of Covid.
I'm not a great fan of 'me-centred' science writing, but there is enough on the science here to make it not feel too much like a misery memoir. And there were certainly various parts of it that were genuinely interesting. For example, I have never understood people's enthusiasm for coriander (cilantro) - I find the taste of it highly unpleasant, and it was a relief to discover that this is not at all uncommon. There were quite a few of those 'ooh, that's interesting' moments. Having said that, though, I did find reading the book a bit of a slog - there weren't enough points of engagement, and a lot of the painstaking discovery of what was happening was... well, too slow.
A literary agent I know always says when presented with a non-fiction idea 'Yes, but is it a book or a magazine article?' - it did feel in part that this was a magazine article expanded to book length. The other thing I found really odd - verging on the uncomfortable - is that the book is written in the first person singular, but is co-authored. It took me quite a while to work out that 'I' was Totaro. It might have been better, if such a personal approach was to be taken, if both authors had identified themselves in the text.
If you have lost your sense of smell or had it distorted - something that far more of us have experienced in the past couple of years as a result of Covid - I would strongly recommend this book. But as a general reader I came out of it slightly underwhelmed.
August 19, 2022
One of the most interesting books I have ever read! I went into this book being like a normal person and taking smell for granted, it’s always been there and done it’s job, recognising food that has gone off, detecting smoke when in danger and getting me in trouble as being the victim of “whoever smelt it, dealt it”. Whilst my hearing is a bit rubbish and my eyesight is awful, I have never really lost my ability to smell, the odd moment during a cold but usually too ill to care about that. This book has really opened my eyes (and nose) to what people are going through when they can no longer smell, they lose part of the world around them and until COVID came along are never taken seriously…and when the smells come back it always isn’t good news, for some they get one smell and often it is a nasty one…imagine everything smelling and tasting of sewage, my brain just cannot process this.
The layout of this book is great, you get the history of olfaction, the present day situation and how COVID changed things and then the future, ways to get the smell-ability back. Mixed in with all this is the scientists, the work they have done and the incredible things they have discovered and throughout the book Totaro shares with us first hand experience as anosmia kicks in, the way it affected her life and mental health and how she worked hard to get it all working again. The science is fascinating and Totaro writes in a way that makes it easy to follow, some words are rather technical but do not take anything away from the reading experience. I also like the fact that Totaro explores further, looking at things like art and language and I have noticed whilst writing this review that I get red squiggly lines under anosmia and olfaction both are words Microsoft refuse to accept.
One sign that shows how good this book is, is that I have had loads of conversations with friends about what I’ve learnt…most conversations were about what I learnt about nipples….and it has also made me thing about my life. I remember as a little kid being forced to eat weetabix because my parents considered it healthy, the stuff is right mank and I hated it, I soon learnt that if I held my nose I was able to eat it, I guess that classes me as a child scientist. One more point of interest that caused a big discussion at work was the chapter about how our wonderful and very very capable government handled the pandemic and that it took them far longer to acknowledge that the lack of smell and taste was a symptom, none of us were aware of this delay…crazy.
This is a cracking book that I can’t recommend enough, I have learnt a huge amount from this and have a new appreciation for my 5th sense.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2022...
The layout of this book is great, you get the history of olfaction, the present day situation and how COVID changed things and then the future, ways to get the smell-ability back. Mixed in with all this is the scientists, the work they have done and the incredible things they have discovered and throughout the book Totaro shares with us first hand experience as anosmia kicks in, the way it affected her life and mental health and how she worked hard to get it all working again. The science is fascinating and Totaro writes in a way that makes it easy to follow, some words are rather technical but do not take anything away from the reading experience. I also like the fact that Totaro explores further, looking at things like art and language and I have noticed whilst writing this review that I get red squiggly lines under anosmia and olfaction both are words Microsoft refuse to accept.
One sign that shows how good this book is, is that I have had loads of conversations with friends about what I’ve learnt…most conversations were about what I learnt about nipples….and it has also made me thing about my life. I remember as a little kid being forced to eat weetabix because my parents considered it healthy, the stuff is right mank and I hated it, I soon learnt that if I held my nose I was able to eat it, I guess that classes me as a child scientist. One more point of interest that caused a big discussion at work was the chapter about how our wonderful and very very capable government handled the pandemic and that it took them far longer to acknowledge that the lack of smell and taste was a symptom, none of us were aware of this delay…crazy.
This is a cracking book that I can’t recommend enough, I have learnt a huge amount from this and have a new appreciation for my 5th sense.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2022...
September 26, 2022
Totaro (co-author Wainwright is her husband) contracted COVID-19 in March 2020 and temporarily lost the ability to smell, prompting her to embark on this investigation into a less-understood sense. One in 10,000 people have congenital anosmia, but many more than that experience it at some point in life (e.g., due to head trauma, or as an early sign of Parkinson’s disease), and awareness has shot up since it’s been acknowledged as a symptom of Covid. For some, it’s parosmia instead – smell distortions – which can almost be worse, with people reporting a constant odour of smoke or garbage, or that some of their favourite aromas, like coffee, were now smelling like faeces instead. Such was the case for Totaro.
She visits fascinating places like the Smell and Taste clinic in Dresden and the University of Reading Flavour Centre. “Sniffin’ sticks” are used to put people’s sense of smell to the test, but it’s notoriously difficult, even for those who haven’t had their senses compromised by illness, to name a smell out of context; people generally don’t score over 50%. That’s one of the major questions the book asks: why it is quite so difficult to identify smells, or describe them in words. Totaro also considers perfume-making, the associations of particular smells (bleach, pine or lemon, depending on your country) with cleanliness, and the potential for multisensory experiences, such as releasing odours during film showings. Lots of interesting topics and stories here, but not as compelling on the whole as The Smell of Fresh Rain.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
She visits fascinating places like the Smell and Taste clinic in Dresden and the University of Reading Flavour Centre. “Sniffin’ sticks” are used to put people’s sense of smell to the test, but it’s notoriously difficult, even for those who haven’t had their senses compromised by illness, to name a smell out of context; people generally don’t score over 50%. That’s one of the major questions the book asks: why it is quite so difficult to identify smells, or describe them in words. Totaro also considers perfume-making, the associations of particular smells (bleach, pine or lemon, depending on your country) with cleanliness, and the potential for multisensory experiences, such as releasing odours during film showings. Lots of interesting topics and stories here, but not as compelling on the whole as The Smell of Fresh Rain.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
July 8, 2023
Years ago I remember one of "those" pub conversations where I lamented the lot of those without a sense a smell and that people would empathise with their plight if there was a decent word for it. With an early mobile phone, some bright spark WAPped the word Anosmic - and my point was made - that sounded clinical rather than a part of life. By the end of the evening, we had come up with a word (Quoom), and felt duty-bound to share it with the world.
This clearly was not a success and when, all of a sudden, the world turned quoom they didn't have the word for it. This is a point made by Totaro and Wainwright, though they don't use the word quoom because they were not aware of this pub conversation - possibly the only missed bit of research here. Because On The Scent is one of those brilliant investigative science books which takes a prescient issue (why did so many people lose their sense of smell during COVID), via a human story - the little appreciated misery of the anosmic, and use it as a jumping-off point to talk all things smelly. This is not the book for you if you balk at the use of the word poo - because it comes up a lot, often joyously as people rediscover their sense of smell via the more pungent of smells.
What puts On The Scent above many similar popular science takes is a mixture of a journalistic story to be dug up around COVID, and a much more general empathy about a sense many people take for granted and certainly don't understand. This turns out to be a cutting-edge topic by virtue of having been so ignored. The authors are also particularly generous to predecessors on this trail, they have a story about COVID as well as a general tale about the senses, but others have trod this road before when it hadn't affected so many people. I lost my smell and taste for a few days with COVID and had a similar feeling of bereftness, and very quickly picked up rituals of tasting and smelling to see if it was coming back. There are tales here of retraining the nose, of how to live without smell, and even those whose nasal palate has shifted so they smell something disgusting when it should be attractive. But as a narrative cornucopia, a story about disease and symptoms, and support for the quoom amongst us, this is bang on the nose.
This clearly was not a success and when, all of a sudden, the world turned quoom they didn't have the word for it. This is a point made by Totaro and Wainwright, though they don't use the word quoom because they were not aware of this pub conversation - possibly the only missed bit of research here. Because On The Scent is one of those brilliant investigative science books which takes a prescient issue (why did so many people lose their sense of smell during COVID), via a human story - the little appreciated misery of the anosmic, and use it as a jumping-off point to talk all things smelly. This is not the book for you if you balk at the use of the word poo - because it comes up a lot, often joyously as people rediscover their sense of smell via the more pungent of smells.
What puts On The Scent above many similar popular science takes is a mixture of a journalistic story to be dug up around COVID, and a much more general empathy about a sense many people take for granted and certainly don't understand. This turns out to be a cutting-edge topic by virtue of having been so ignored. The authors are also particularly generous to predecessors on this trail, they have a story about COVID as well as a general tale about the senses, but others have trod this road before when it hadn't affected so many people. I lost my smell and taste for a few days with COVID and had a similar feeling of bereftness, and very quickly picked up rituals of tasting and smelling to see if it was coming back. There are tales here of retraining the nose, of how to live without smell, and even those whose nasal palate has shifted so they smell something disgusting when it should be attractive. But as a narrative cornucopia, a story about disease and symptoms, and support for the quoom amongst us, this is bang on the nose.
June 17, 2022
This is one of those books that I wish I had when I had Covid. I was one of the many who lost the sense of taste and smell. It's one of those things that you don't realise how important it is to your mental well-being as well as being one of the physical senses.
This book made me realise how important the sense of smell is. Without it, things just were not the same. I never appreciated how much of my everyday life revolves around smell until it wasn't there. I am one of the very lucky ones who only had to deal with this abandonment on a temporary basis, around two weeks before I could start to pick up aromas, perfumes and other strong smells.
The authors of this book have laid everything out in such an easy-to-understand way. Yes, obviously there are science bits, but all done in a way that this non-science-brained reader could get. The authors take the reader through the various terms, the history, and also most recently Covid. In some ways, Covid provided answers for many people who have anosmia - a loss of smell, or parosmia - a distortion of smell. From having only a few volunteers pre-pandemic, researchers had a whole world of people who were suddenly discovering that they had lost their fifth sense.
The authors bring accounts, quotes, and articles from various people around the world. Those who have never had a sense of smell, to those who have a sense of smell but one that is wrong. AS I was reading this book I realised that there is a lot more to having a sense of smell than you first realise. Have you ever smelt a flower, or a perfume and been reminded of a favourite relative or an occasion? Have you ever smelt something starting to burn, or smelt a whiffy nappy? How about your own body smell? Can you smell the rain coming so can go and get your washing in off the line?
Not having this sense for me was a shock. Food became, boring and bland. Cooking a meal felt at times pointless as I knew I would not enjoy it. This book goes through all of these moments and so many more. It makes it such an enlightening read and one that, as I have mentioned, I wish I had before I got Covid.
The treatments, diagnosis, attitudes, advice and realisation have changed since Covid. This means that it will hopefully be given greater importance. If you lost your sight you would be classed as blind, if you couldn't hear you would be classed as deaf. In both of these cases, you would have access to aids. Now, what about the smell!
This is an educational book that comes across in a very informal way. I was surprised by how much I could identify with, and also how much I really had no idea about. I know I am very lucky to have my sense of smell back because without that my sense of taste is also gone. An interesting read and very accessible. It is one I would definitely recommend.
This book made me realise how important the sense of smell is. Without it, things just were not the same. I never appreciated how much of my everyday life revolves around smell until it wasn't there. I am one of the very lucky ones who only had to deal with this abandonment on a temporary basis, around two weeks before I could start to pick up aromas, perfumes and other strong smells.
The authors of this book have laid everything out in such an easy-to-understand way. Yes, obviously there are science bits, but all done in a way that this non-science-brained reader could get. The authors take the reader through the various terms, the history, and also most recently Covid. In some ways, Covid provided answers for many people who have anosmia - a loss of smell, or parosmia - a distortion of smell. From having only a few volunteers pre-pandemic, researchers had a whole world of people who were suddenly discovering that they had lost their fifth sense.
The authors bring accounts, quotes, and articles from various people around the world. Those who have never had a sense of smell, to those who have a sense of smell but one that is wrong. AS I was reading this book I realised that there is a lot more to having a sense of smell than you first realise. Have you ever smelt a flower, or a perfume and been reminded of a favourite relative or an occasion? Have you ever smelt something starting to burn, or smelt a whiffy nappy? How about your own body smell? Can you smell the rain coming so can go and get your washing in off the line?
Not having this sense for me was a shock. Food became, boring and bland. Cooking a meal felt at times pointless as I knew I would not enjoy it. This book goes through all of these moments and so many more. It makes it such an enlightening read and one that, as I have mentioned, I wish I had before I got Covid.
The treatments, diagnosis, attitudes, advice and realisation have changed since Covid. This means that it will hopefully be given greater importance. If you lost your sight you would be classed as blind, if you couldn't hear you would be classed as deaf. In both of these cases, you would have access to aids. Now, what about the smell!
This is an educational book that comes across in a very informal way. I was surprised by how much I could identify with, and also how much I really had no idea about. I know I am very lucky to have my sense of smell back because without that my sense of taste is also gone. An interesting read and very accessible. It is one I would definitely recommend.
January 1, 2023
A riveting olfactory adventure on the sense of smell. Totaro and Wainwright trace the history of scent from the last few centuries to the present day, anchoring the narrative to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest and established scientific research, and interviews and reflections on the experience of odour and olfaction.
"As a sense of smell was being dismissed, vision was being championed."
Totaro and Wainwright are an engaging pair of writers. The anecdotes that they weave into this nonfiction narrative are pertinent and captivating. At the same time, I found myself growing weary of the never-ending references to COVID-19. There was simply too much of it, and it will certainly date the work. I understand that Totaro was inspired by her personal experience of anosmia (loss of scent) brought on by her COVID-19 infection and the rather puzzling response of the scientific and medical communities to this symptom and side-effect. We certainly focus too much on vision, hearing, and tactility over our other senses, perhaps especially smell. But COVID-19 is but one case study, even if it was the impetus for this work.
"Unlike light and sound waves, which are relatively stable stimuli and can be measured and document, odorants behave very differently depending on how they interact with other smells already in the surrounding air."
I did enjoy the range of materials and especially the critical take on histories and personages. I was alarmed to find out that Broca's musings have continued to be relied upon by modern scientists and researchers as a source of empirical evidence about the world. I rolled my eyes at the mention of Freud, whose work I simply wish would just dust away into the sands of time. You might not be surprised to hear that he thought smell was an "immature" sense you'd lose as you matured—and if you didn't, you must have some "form of arrested psychological development," as Totaro and Wainwright humorously put it. I appreciated that the authors brought in and named women and non-Western players, and actually interviewed them rather than simply outlining and citing their work.
"... in Jahai, cnes (pronounced something like 'chnges') encapsulates the smell of smoke and petrol, the stench of bat droppings and bat caves, some types of millipedes, the root of wild ginger and the wood of wild mango among other odour sources."
Still, this leads me to another annoyance: the rather uneven use of references. Literatures and studies are referred to in bulk, as if we're supposed to know which ones they are and what they're all about. Other research and cases are described in detail but not cited at all. I have no idea how to find these papers and materials; I'd have to take a stab at Google Scholar with the author name or topic as keywords and hope for the best. Yet, other work is cited with a reference in the footnote and proper bibliographic notes at the end of the text. Why? Everyone, cite everything, every time.
I was also left wondering how much inspiration Totaro and Wainwright drew from the volume that they praise and cite the most: Gilbert's "What the Nose Knows." I haven't read it, but it left me wondering what this text adds, aside from the COVID-19 update, anecdotes, and interviews. Also, Gilbert's title is so much better than the title of this text. If the authors were to be inspired by anything, then why not a clever and snappy title like that one.
Overall, I was engaged and learned a lot about our mysterious and often neglected fifth sense. I hope that this work and the general increase in awareness of anosmia and hyposmia (reduced ability to scent) as a result of the pandemic will boost research and technological innovations on odours and olfaction.
Thank you to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for the advance copy of this edition.
"As a sense of smell was being dismissed, vision was being championed."
Totaro and Wainwright are an engaging pair of writers. The anecdotes that they weave into this nonfiction narrative are pertinent and captivating. At the same time, I found myself growing weary of the never-ending references to COVID-19. There was simply too much of it, and it will certainly date the work. I understand that Totaro was inspired by her personal experience of anosmia (loss of scent) brought on by her COVID-19 infection and the rather puzzling response of the scientific and medical communities to this symptom and side-effect. We certainly focus too much on vision, hearing, and tactility over our other senses, perhaps especially smell. But COVID-19 is but one case study, even if it was the impetus for this work.
"Unlike light and sound waves, which are relatively stable stimuli and can be measured and document, odorants behave very differently depending on how they interact with other smells already in the surrounding air."
I did enjoy the range of materials and especially the critical take on histories and personages. I was alarmed to find out that Broca's musings have continued to be relied upon by modern scientists and researchers as a source of empirical evidence about the world. I rolled my eyes at the mention of Freud, whose work I simply wish would just dust away into the sands of time. You might not be surprised to hear that he thought smell was an "immature" sense you'd lose as you matured—and if you didn't, you must have some "form of arrested psychological development," as Totaro and Wainwright humorously put it. I appreciated that the authors brought in and named women and non-Western players, and actually interviewed them rather than simply outlining and citing their work.
"... in Jahai, cnes (pronounced something like 'chnges') encapsulates the smell of smoke and petrol, the stench of bat droppings and bat caves, some types of millipedes, the root of wild ginger and the wood of wild mango among other odour sources."
Still, this leads me to another annoyance: the rather uneven use of references. Literatures and studies are referred to in bulk, as if we're supposed to know which ones they are and what they're all about. Other research and cases are described in detail but not cited at all. I have no idea how to find these papers and materials; I'd have to take a stab at Google Scholar with the author name or topic as keywords and hope for the best. Yet, other work is cited with a reference in the footnote and proper bibliographic notes at the end of the text. Why? Everyone, cite everything, every time.
I was also left wondering how much inspiration Totaro and Wainwright drew from the volume that they praise and cite the most: Gilbert's "What the Nose Knows." I haven't read it, but it left me wondering what this text adds, aside from the COVID-19 update, anecdotes, and interviews. Also, Gilbert's title is so much better than the title of this text. If the authors were to be inspired by anything, then why not a clever and snappy title like that one.
Overall, I was engaged and learned a lot about our mysterious and often neglected fifth sense. I hope that this work and the general increase in awareness of anosmia and hyposmia (reduced ability to scent) as a result of the pandemic will boost research and technological innovations on odours and olfaction.
Thank you to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for the advance copy of this edition.
August 12, 2022
When Paola Totaro caught Covid, she lost her sense of smell and taste. She used that experience to write On the Scent with her husband, Robert Wainwright. The book is a wide-ranging exploration of how, what and why we smell. It also hammers home the message that loss of smell was not initially recognised as a symptom of Covid. That mattered because it meant people didn’t realise they were infected and thus infectious.
Despite the book’s name, this is NOT a book just about scent. It covers the mechanics of our smell mechanism. I learned that people who have a smaller olfactory bulbs (it’s located at the front of your brain, above the nasal cavity and receives messages from your scent receptors) are more likely to be depressed. We’re still learning about how it all works. For example, why does benzaldehyde (a single molecule) smell like marzipan to some people and like maraschino cherries to others?
Yes, there’s some fascinating scientific detail like that in the book, but it also ponders the emotions of smell. Wordsworth had no sense of smell – although he wrote about the sight and beauty of daffodils, he didn’t mention the smell that must have accompanied a field of them. The book covers history: the Great Stink of 1858 that persuaded Parliament to fund Joseph Bazalgette’s building of the London sewer system. It also covers the nineteenth century development of synthetic scents. Remember: these are chemically identical to natural ingredients. I can promise you that the molecule of Sir William Perkin’s artificial coumarin has exactly the same atoms (C9H6O2) as that of naturally occurring coumarin.
The authors talk to experts like Professor Barry Smith (always huge fun) about why society is much more sympathetic to blind or deaf people than to those who have lost their sense of smell or taste. I’m sure my gut reaction was the same as yours, “Well of course it doesn’t matter as much. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”. This book will perhaps give us a different perspective: the one forced upon Paola by Covid, where we think a lot more about smell and taste. Would you enjoy life as much if you couldn’t taste anything? All food – absolutely everything - is simply flavourless stuff to be chewed and swallowed? What if you couldn’t smell anything? Burnt toast, curry, your body odour, the house on fire? And what about the awful experiences of parosmia (existing smells are distorted) and phantosmia (smells are hallucinated)? So many people had that with Covid, where everything smells of poo. The authors write about all these in gripping prose. This really is an excellent book, written in a highly readable style. It far far exceeded my expectations because it covers so much, so well.
#OntheScent #NetGalley
Despite the book’s name, this is NOT a book just about scent. It covers the mechanics of our smell mechanism. I learned that people who have a smaller olfactory bulbs (it’s located at the front of your brain, above the nasal cavity and receives messages from your scent receptors) are more likely to be depressed. We’re still learning about how it all works. For example, why does benzaldehyde (a single molecule) smell like marzipan to some people and like maraschino cherries to others?
Yes, there’s some fascinating scientific detail like that in the book, but it also ponders the emotions of smell. Wordsworth had no sense of smell – although he wrote about the sight and beauty of daffodils, he didn’t mention the smell that must have accompanied a field of them. The book covers history: the Great Stink of 1858 that persuaded Parliament to fund Joseph Bazalgette’s building of the London sewer system. It also covers the nineteenth century development of synthetic scents. Remember: these are chemically identical to natural ingredients. I can promise you that the molecule of Sir William Perkin’s artificial coumarin has exactly the same atoms (C9H6O2) as that of naturally occurring coumarin.
The authors talk to experts like Professor Barry Smith (always huge fun) about why society is much more sympathetic to blind or deaf people than to those who have lost their sense of smell or taste. I’m sure my gut reaction was the same as yours, “Well of course it doesn’t matter as much. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”. This book will perhaps give us a different perspective: the one forced upon Paola by Covid, where we think a lot more about smell and taste. Would you enjoy life as much if you couldn’t taste anything? All food – absolutely everything - is simply flavourless stuff to be chewed and swallowed? What if you couldn’t smell anything? Burnt toast, curry, your body odour, the house on fire? And what about the awful experiences of parosmia (existing smells are distorted) and phantosmia (smells are hallucinated)? So many people had that with Covid, where everything smells of poo. The authors write about all these in gripping prose. This really is an excellent book, written in a highly readable style. It far far exceeded my expectations because it covers so much, so well.
#OntheScent #NetGalley
June 11, 2022
✨BOOK REVIEW✨
ON THE SCENT - Paola Totoro and Robert Wainwright
Well this is a timely book for me. It dropped on my doorstep as I was entering my second experience of Covid.
The first time in August 2021 myself, my husband and my son all had Covid and we all experienced varying degrees of hyposmia ( a partial loss of smell), loss of taste and parosmia ( when existing smells are distorted). I first realised something was wrong when we had a curry for dinner and I couldn’t taste or smell it, my husband the same. My son couldn’t eat roast potatoes as they tasted like the smell of scrambled eggs which he thought was disgusting!
Thankfully for us the changes sparked by the viral infection waned so our smell and taste returned. But for some including the author of this book, they experienced anosmia ( a complete loss of smell) and this is hugely affecting and is akin to amputation.
Smell ( and taste) rules our lives and we take it for granted, it is part of every facet of our being. This book takes us on an olfactory discovery, via the world of those born without smell, how it can be an indicator of declining health and how the scientific community came together in the past 2 years with research to help people with sensory loss. Plus loads of amazing facts about the sense of smell to boot!
It is easy to read, hugely interesting, yes I’m a scientist and I love stuff like this but honestly it’s such a great read! It felt like reading a dystopian thriller, reading how Covid unfolded globally and the fight to have anosmia recognised as a symptom was so frustrating, it was clearly a symptom but the powers that be ignored it and with that the spread of the disease could have been slowed and many thousands of lives could potentially have been saved. This has really made me feel angry in some ways but I’m not going to get political until we get the chance to vote again, but you can see how clunky and slow the wheels of power really are with this.
The personal stories of people’s experiences of anosmia were spellbinding and very moving, so many people have been affected and yet it is dismissed so often, there is so little help available.
I have started sniffing everything again, to reassure myself I can still smell and to remind myself and take note of this most nostalgic of senses and to not take it for granted.
This is a brilliant five star read, accessible to all, powerful, educating and enthralling.
✩✩✩✩✩
ON THE SCENT - Paola Totoro and Robert Wainwright
Well this is a timely book for me. It dropped on my doorstep as I was entering my second experience of Covid.
The first time in August 2021 myself, my husband and my son all had Covid and we all experienced varying degrees of hyposmia ( a partial loss of smell), loss of taste and parosmia ( when existing smells are distorted). I first realised something was wrong when we had a curry for dinner and I couldn’t taste or smell it, my husband the same. My son couldn’t eat roast potatoes as they tasted like the smell of scrambled eggs which he thought was disgusting!
Thankfully for us the changes sparked by the viral infection waned so our smell and taste returned. But for some including the author of this book, they experienced anosmia ( a complete loss of smell) and this is hugely affecting and is akin to amputation.
Smell ( and taste) rules our lives and we take it for granted, it is part of every facet of our being. This book takes us on an olfactory discovery, via the world of those born without smell, how it can be an indicator of declining health and how the scientific community came together in the past 2 years with research to help people with sensory loss. Plus loads of amazing facts about the sense of smell to boot!
It is easy to read, hugely interesting, yes I’m a scientist and I love stuff like this but honestly it’s such a great read! It felt like reading a dystopian thriller, reading how Covid unfolded globally and the fight to have anosmia recognised as a symptom was so frustrating, it was clearly a symptom but the powers that be ignored it and with that the spread of the disease could have been slowed and many thousands of lives could potentially have been saved. This has really made me feel angry in some ways but I’m not going to get political until we get the chance to vote again, but you can see how clunky and slow the wheels of power really are with this.
The personal stories of people’s experiences of anosmia were spellbinding and very moving, so many people have been affected and yet it is dismissed so often, there is so little help available.
I have started sniffing everything again, to reassure myself I can still smell and to remind myself and take note of this most nostalgic of senses and to not take it for granted.
This is a brilliant five star read, accessible to all, powerful, educating and enthralling.
✩✩✩✩✩
May 9, 2025
You know when you think you’re interested in a niche topic, enough to read a whole book about it? And then you realise, you thought you were interested, but maybe not THAT interested… That was On the scent for me. Sparked when author Totaro became anosmic due to COVID-19 infection, it is essentially a narrative review of all things olfaction.
I can 100% agree that of all the senses, smell is the most neglected by medical education and research. I also agree that it is awful that for the longest time, people who lost their smell were shown away by medical establishments with little to no answers, and that the world has mostly not considered a loss of smell to be a real disability. But gods forbid I have to hear anosmia characterised as the orphan sense, or the ugly stepchild, one more time.
Like many narrative reviews, On the scent has bits that the reader finds particularly pertinent, and bits they tend to skim over - whether because the particular section is not of interest to them, or because it is more complicated than they desire.
I found Totaro’s deep dive into how, exactly, researchers managed to glean the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of olfaction, a bit too longwinded and convoluted. I do understand that for some readers (especially the academics) the road to these studies are as important as their results. Certainly, the way researchers were able to find answers when they learned to ask the right questions, offers a valuable lesson in research.
After reading On the scent, the reader is sure to appreciate their sense of smell, and the way they interact within a sensory world. Certainly, a reader may find themselves more mindful for days or weeks to come, just how they might describe smells in words, and how that may affect their perceptions.
This book is a tome, and may leave you exhausted at times. If, however, you do not expect to adore every single chapter (which is a big ask for any science book), you may find this well worth the read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Elliott & Thompson for the eARC.
I can 100% agree that of all the senses, smell is the most neglected by medical education and research. I also agree that it is awful that for the longest time, people who lost their smell were shown away by medical establishments with little to no answers, and that the world has mostly not considered a loss of smell to be a real disability. But gods forbid I have to hear anosmia characterised as the orphan sense, or the ugly stepchild, one more time.
Like many narrative reviews, On the scent has bits that the reader finds particularly pertinent, and bits they tend to skim over - whether because the particular section is not of interest to them, or because it is more complicated than they desire.
I found Totaro’s deep dive into how, exactly, researchers managed to glean the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of olfaction, a bit too longwinded and convoluted. I do understand that for some readers (especially the academics) the road to these studies are as important as their results. Certainly, the way researchers were able to find answers when they learned to ask the right questions, offers a valuable lesson in research.
After reading On the scent, the reader is sure to appreciate their sense of smell, and the way they interact within a sensory world. Certainly, a reader may find themselves more mindful for days or weeks to come, just how they might describe smells in words, and how that may affect their perceptions.
This book is a tome, and may leave you exhausted at times. If, however, you do not expect to adore every single chapter (which is a big ask for any science book), you may find this well worth the read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Elliott & Thompson for the eARC.
May 29, 2022
On the Scent by Paola Totaro and Robert Wainwright is an exceptional example of what science writing can be, both intellectually engaging and personal in nature.
When Totaro lost her sense of smell with COVID it highlighted just how important that sense is to our other senses as well as our life in general. This served as a catalyst for the research that became this book. We get a wonderful look at the science of smell as well as the ways we incorporate the concept into our language and understanding of the world.
The writing presents the science clearly and with a lot of analogy and contextualization so the reader can relate it to their own life. In addition to many things you may not have known you also get the science behind the things you do (why holding your nose helps you to tolerate something you don't like the taste of).
As Totaro regains her sense of smell she has to exercise it, which is a concept I wasn't familiar with, beyond for specific purposes such as training one's nose for wine tasting. This, of course, sent me looking for more information on that topic. There are many such instances in the book that might send a reader looking deeper, which for me is a sign of a good science book. I learned something new and it piqued my curiosity to learn more. Always a good thing.
Highly recommended for readers of popular science books and especially those who have or do have issues with their sense of smell.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
When Totaro lost her sense of smell with COVID it highlighted just how important that sense is to our other senses as well as our life in general. This served as a catalyst for the research that became this book. We get a wonderful look at the science of smell as well as the ways we incorporate the concept into our language and understanding of the world.
The writing presents the science clearly and with a lot of analogy and contextualization so the reader can relate it to their own life. In addition to many things you may not have known you also get the science behind the things you do (why holding your nose helps you to tolerate something you don't like the taste of).
As Totaro regains her sense of smell she has to exercise it, which is a concept I wasn't familiar with, beyond for specific purposes such as training one's nose for wine tasting. This, of course, sent me looking for more information on that topic. There are many such instances in the book that might send a reader looking deeper, which for me is a sign of a good science book. I learned something new and it piqued my curiosity to learn more. Always a good thing.
Highly recommended for readers of popular science books and especially those who have or do have issues with their sense of smell.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
June 8, 2022
It is safe to say that there are not many books that talk about perfumery or scents, and therefore each new one I manage to find feels like a special treat. I am an avid perfume collector (or hoarder?) and I am interested in everything concerning the topic - from the chemistry aspect to the reviews of cult classics. On the Scent is a refreshing, more scientific research into the cultural problematic of forgetting the importance of the sense of smell and the ways how to find a new appreciation for it. After the author became anosmic for more than a year due to covid, she became interested in finding out experiences of other people who went through the same thing. This lead her to discover a new world of people who were born anosmic or lost smell permanently, as well as to participate in discussions with the leaders in the scientific olfactory research. This books shows that as a society we tend to forget the crucial role this specific sense has for us, from alerting us to imminent danger to connect us with memories once we smell certain perfumes. I found especially intriguing a chapter about the linguistic problems of expressing the world of scents and the lack of vocabulary for it in the majority of spoken languages.
Overall, this book is an easy introduction to a very complicated and still widely underrated field of science, that as the author suggests, may experience a much needed attention in near future.
Thank you Netgalley UK for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Overall, this book is an easy introduction to a very complicated and still widely underrated field of science, that as the author suggests, may experience a much needed attention in near future.
Thank you Netgalley UK for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
June 23, 2022
Firstly I wish to thank the lovely people at Elliot & Thompson for sending me this utterly brilliant book with a request for an open and honest review.
I loved this book. Such a well written and timely deep dive into what it’s like, and why we lose, our fifth sense. The sense of smell is so deeply rooted in us and such an everyday part of who we are and we live that when we lose it our world becomes a completely different, and a somewhat stagnant place.
Paola lost her sense of smell because of covid in the early days of the Covid19 Pandemic and so she decided to embark on an investigation into the sense of smell, how it works and so on…
Before the pandemic very little was actually known about the nature of smelling and how the anatomy of the nose in relation to how we smell and the messages that are sent to the brain and the trillions of odours in our world.
This book is endlessly fascinating. My husband and I both had covid back in April and it’s still affecting us now with bad chests, lethargy et al… I lost my sense of smell and it’s not completely returned. I went from having a very heightened sense of smell to absolutely nothing. With the loss of smell, the loss of taste also occurs. It’s coming back gradually now but reading this wonderful piece of work really opened my eyes up to how much of a spit light has now been placed upon smell, it’s loss, how it is lost and how it returns.
Highly recommended read!
I loved this book. Such a well written and timely deep dive into what it’s like, and why we lose, our fifth sense. The sense of smell is so deeply rooted in us and such an everyday part of who we are and we live that when we lose it our world becomes a completely different, and a somewhat stagnant place.
Paola lost her sense of smell because of covid in the early days of the Covid19 Pandemic and so she decided to embark on an investigation into the sense of smell, how it works and so on…
Before the pandemic very little was actually known about the nature of smelling and how the anatomy of the nose in relation to how we smell and the messages that are sent to the brain and the trillions of odours in our world.
This book is endlessly fascinating. My husband and I both had covid back in April and it’s still affecting us now with bad chests, lethargy et al… I lost my sense of smell and it’s not completely returned. I went from having a very heightened sense of smell to absolutely nothing. With the loss of smell, the loss of taste also occurs. It’s coming back gradually now but reading this wonderful piece of work really opened my eyes up to how much of a spit light has now been placed upon smell, it’s loss, how it is lost and how it returns.
Highly recommended read!
June 19, 2023
This was an unexpected delight. Like the author, I hadn't really thought much about the importance of the sense of smell, and, before Covid, didn't realise there were people who were anosmiacs.
The author, who loses her ability to smell through Covid (but later had it return), writes about a subject that is rarely touched upon. As she often points out, the sense of smell is usually treated as the least important of our five senses, and therefore, until Covid came along, was rarely studied.
She takes us through what is known and unknown about how we smell things, what it is like for those who have lost or never had a sense of smell, and some of the studies that were being undertaken before and that were accelerated during Covid.
It's a book that introduces the reader to a different way of thinking about how we perceive the world, with a lot of information in it that isn't very difficult to read, doesn't require a science background, and which does make you want to learn more about the science of smell.
The author, who loses her ability to smell through Covid (but later had it return), writes about a subject that is rarely touched upon. As she often points out, the sense of smell is usually treated as the least important of our five senses, and therefore, until Covid came along, was rarely studied.
She takes us through what is known and unknown about how we smell things, what it is like for those who have lost or never had a sense of smell, and some of the studies that were being undertaken before and that were accelerated during Covid.
It's a book that introduces the reader to a different way of thinking about how we perceive the world, with a lot of information in it that isn't very difficult to read, doesn't require a science background, and which does make you want to learn more about the science of smell.
February 5, 2023
As someone who has lost their sense of smell due to covid, this book was fascinating. It is written by a journalist who lost her sense of smell due to covid and decided to find out more. It is a popular science book, easy to read and understand, but not dumbed down. It is not just about scent loss due to covid, this only makes up a small part of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has lost their sense of smell, or who has any impairment to their sense of smell, but also to anyone who loves popular science books. It is very interesting and very readable.
May 20, 2024
Somewhere between memoir and popular science, this book is the first time I’ve seen a discussion involving covid that hasn’t seemed too soon or pure cringe. This was great.
October 1, 2022
‘Come with me on a journey of olfactory discovery. Meet many of the world’s leading experts, wonder at the science, and hear the stories of many patients who forged a path back to life and health in the wake of the Covid Pandemic.”
The author, like so many others, lost her sense of smell after Covid, fortunately temporarily..and discovering a complete vacuum of information, support or medical remedy, she embarked on her own quest.
The subtitle of this book is ’Unlocking the mysteries of smell and how its loss can change your world’ and that pretty much summarises the content which explores smell through its biology, psychology, history, culture.
Although I have lived with my fifth sense for many years it is clear that I know very little about it; I have now discovered that there is a word for the lack of smell, in fact words plural; I learned how much the sense of smell is linked to the sense of taste and that when you lose your sense of smell it can have profound psychological effects destroying vital links to memories; a code which alerts you to danger (think smoke, burning, out of date food..) to emotions, and to appreciation of meals. For some of the people interviewed for the book the loss of smell has significantly affected their lives and well being.
If you lose your sense of smell there is no optician equivalent…
Back in the old days it was ok to ‘smell’ but these days there are so many ways we seek to cover up personal odours.
The way we smell something depends on so many factors and is very individual. Some smells really separate people out …one of these is coriander.
I buddy read this fascinating book with my lovely friend. Each day we read one or two chapters and marvelled at the sensory world, vocabulary and information that we were discovering. For the main part this is very accessible but does include discussion of science and research. I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes and personal stories which really illustrated the points being made. The child in me had not understood what my Grandfather had lost with his loss of smell..When I wake up and smell the roses I have a lot better understanding of what is going on.
July 15, 2022
Hello Paola,
I just wanted to say a huge and heartfelt Thank You for writing such a beautiful and soul touching book.
I turned the last page last night and I would start reading it all over again.. I probably will to be honest..!
It made me think, it made reflect, it made me laugh and cry...but most importantly it made me learn a lot about our so amazingly complex olfactory system and its legacy that has sparked up a true desire in me to learn more about it and to dig deeper into history in order to understand how research has evolved through the centuries.
It also left me with hope and I can’t thank you enough for this.
What you have done, travelling the World in the midst of a global pandemic in search of knowledge and answers which would benefit us all is just so unbelievably selfless and wonderful!
Thank you!
I am still struggling with fluctuations and a very frustrating hyposmia..but I’m not giving up and I will continue to meaningfully engage with my brain when smell training and think about all the memories and the emotions that a particular scent brings along…
When I read the passage about you being in Locorotondo whilst incidentally bumping into the procession of the Madonna dell’Addolorata and you smelled the incense..well.. I can’t really tell you how deeply and viscerally I understood that moment..and your spontaneous tears of joy…
Thank you Paola, from the bottom of my heart.
With huge gratitude and admiration,
Nick
I just wanted to say a huge and heartfelt Thank You for writing such a beautiful and soul touching book.
I turned the last page last night and I would start reading it all over again.. I probably will to be honest..!
It made me think, it made reflect, it made me laugh and cry...but most importantly it made me learn a lot about our so amazingly complex olfactory system and its legacy that has sparked up a true desire in me to learn more about it and to dig deeper into history in order to understand how research has evolved through the centuries.
It also left me with hope and I can’t thank you enough for this.
What you have done, travelling the World in the midst of a global pandemic in search of knowledge and answers which would benefit us all is just so unbelievably selfless and wonderful!
Thank you!
I am still struggling with fluctuations and a very frustrating hyposmia..but I’m not giving up and I will continue to meaningfully engage with my brain when smell training and think about all the memories and the emotions that a particular scent brings along…
When I read the passage about you being in Locorotondo whilst incidentally bumping into the procession of the Madonna dell’Addolorata and you smelled the incense..well.. I can’t really tell you how deeply and viscerally I understood that moment..and your spontaneous tears of joy…
Thank you Paola, from the bottom of my heart.
With huge gratitude and admiration,
Nick
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