Our perfumed history
Chandler Burr dwelled on โthe mystery of smellโ in his intriguing 2004 book, The Emperor of Scent. โWe understand the human sense of vision,โ Burr wrote, โintimately down to exactly which vibration of a particle of light caught in the vision receptor in the retina will make us see exactly which colorโฆ We know hearing in exquisite detail, can predict with absolute accuracy which air vibration in the cochlea will create what tone. But of smell, we do not know, cannot predict.โ [...]