Smell
A Very Short Introduction
Price: 350.00 INR
ISBN:
9780198825258
Publication date:
14/10/2020
Paperback
144 pages
174x111mm
Price: 350.00 INR
ISBN:
9780198825258
Publication date:
14/10/2020
Paperback
144 pages
Matthew Cobb
Summarises the latest neurobiological research on smell, in humans and other mammals, as well as in insects and fish,Discusses how our genes determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell and others do not,Explores how animals use smell to navigate and communicate,Considers the future of smell in a world of robots and climate change,Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over ten million copies sold worldwide
Rights: OUP UK (INDIAN TERRITORY)
Matthew Cobb
Description
Our sense of smell - or olfaction as it is technically known - is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance in our mental life and in the existence of all animals, our scientific understanding of how smell works is limited.
In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Cobb describes the latest scientific
research on smell in humans and other mammals, in insects, and even in fish. He looks at how smell evolved, how animals use it to navigate and communicate, and disorders of smell in humans. Understanding smell, especially its neurobiology, has proved a big challenge, but olfactory science has revealed genetic factors that determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell while others find it unbearable. He ends by considering future treatments for smell disorders, and speculating on the role of smell in a world of robots.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of
titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
About the author
Matthew Cobb, School of Biological Sciences, University of ManchesterMatthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester. He has a degree in Psychology and has studied the sense of smell in maggots and other animals for over 30 years. Since 2004, he has taught a final-year course at Manchester on Chemical Communication in Animals, which is the basis for this book. His favourite smells are the back of a baby's neck, and petrichor: the smell of soil in the summer after it has rained. In 2015, he was shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize for his book Life's Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code (Profile Books, 2015).
Matthew Cobb
Table of contents
List of illustrations
1:How we smell
2:Smelling with genes
3:Animal olfaction
4:Human smelling
5:The future of smell
6:Smelling to remember, remembering smells
7:Chemical signals
Further reading
Index
Matthew Cobb
Description
Our sense of smell - or olfaction as it is technically known - is our most enigmatic sense. It can conjure up memories, taking us back to very specific places and emotions, whilst powerful smells can induce strong feelings of hunger or nausea. In the animal kingdom smell can be used to find food, a mate, or a home; to sense danger; and to send and receive complex messages with other members of a species. Yet despite its fundamental importance in our mental life and in the existence of all animals, our scientific understanding of how smell works is limited.
In this Very Short Introduction, Matthew Cobb describes the latest scientific
research on smell in humans and other mammals, in insects, and even in fish. He looks at how smell evolved, how animals use it to navigate and communicate, and disorders of smell in humans. Understanding smell, especially its neurobiology, has proved a big challenge, but olfactory science has revealed genetic factors that determine what we can and cannot smell, and why some people like a given smell while others find it unbearable. He ends by considering future treatments for smell disorders, and speculating on the role of smell in a world of robots.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of
titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
About the author
Matthew Cobb, School of Biological Sciences, University of ManchesterMatthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester. He has a degree in Psychology and has studied the sense of smell in maggots and other animals for over 30 years. Since 2004, he has taught a final-year course at Manchester on Chemical Communication in Animals, which is the basis for this book. His favourite smells are the back of a baby's neck, and petrichor: the smell of soil in the summer after it has rained. In 2015, he was shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize for his book Life's Greatest Secret: The Race to Crack the Genetic Code (Profile Books, 2015).
Table of contents
List of illustrations
1:How we smell
2:Smelling with genes
3:Animal olfaction
4:Human smelling
5:The future of smell
6:Smelling to remember, remembering smells
7:Chemical signals
Further reading
Index
Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases
Benjamin Roche, Hélène Broutin, Frédéric Simard
Processes in Microbial Ecology
David L. Kirchman
Selfish Genes to Social Beings
Jonathan Silvertown
The Evolutionary Biology of Species
Timothy G. Barraclough