Natural History Of The Senses(ISBN=9780679735663)

　　"One of the real tests of writers," notes Ackerman in this liveliest of nature books, "is how well they write about smells. If they can't describe the scent of sanctity in a church, can you trust them to describe the suburbs of the heart?" Ackerman passes the test, writing with ease and fluency about the five senses. Did you know that bat guano smells like stale Wheat Thins? That Bach's music can quell anger around the world? That the leaves that shimmer so beautifully in fall have "no adaptive purpose"? Ackerman does, and she guides us through questions of sensation with an eye for the amusingly arcane reference and just the right phrase.

　　Diane Ackerman's lusciously written grand tour of the realm of the senses includes conversations with an iceberg in Antarctica and a professional nose in New York, along with dissertations on kisses and tattoos, sadistic cuisine and the music played by the planet Earth. "Delightful . . . gives the reader the richest possible feeling of the worlds the senses take in."--The New York Times. (Literature--Classics & Contemporary)

INTRODUCTION
IN EVERY SENSE
SMELL
　THE MUTE SENSE
　A MAP OF SMELL
　OF VIOLETS AND NEURONS
　THE SHAPE OF SMELL
　BUCKETS  OF  LIGHT
　THE  WINTER  PALACE OF MONARCHS
　THE OCEANS INSIDE US
　NOTIONS  AND  NATIONS  OF SWEAT
　THE  PERSONALITY  OF  SMELL
　PHEROMONES
　NOSES
　SNEEZING
　SMELL  AS  CAMOUFLAGE"
　ROSES
　THE FALLEN ANGEL
　ANOSMIA
　PRODIGIES OF SMELL
　A FAMOUS NOSE
　AN OFFERING TO THE GODS
　CLEOPATRA'S HEIRS
TOUCH
　THE FEELING BUBBLE
　SPEAKING  OF  TOUCH
　FIRST  TOUCHES
　WHAT IS A  TOUCH?
　THE  CODE  SENDERS
　HAIR
　THE INNER CLIMATE
　THE SKIN HAS EYES
　ADVENTURES IN THE TOUCH DOME
　ANIMALS
　TATTOOS
　PAIN
　EASING PAIN
　THE  POINT  OF  PAIN
　KISSING
　THE HAND
　PROFESSIONAL TOUCHERS
　TABOOS
　SUBLIMINAL  TOUCH
……
INDEX