A Natural History of the Senses

by Diane Ackerman

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780679735663
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/10/1991
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	137,580
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Diane Ackerman has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in addition to garnering many other awards and recognitions for her work, which include the bestselling The Zookeeper’s Wife and A Natural History of the Senses. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

Table of Contents

	Introduction
	In Every Sense	xv
	Smell	3
	The Mute Sense	5
	A Map of Smell	6
	Of Violets and Neurons	9
	The Shape of Smell	11
	Buckets of Light	15
	The Winter Palace of Monarchs	18
	The Oceans Inside Us	20
	Notions and Nations of Sweat	21
	The Personality of Smell	23
	Pheromones	26
	Noses	30
	Sneezing	31
	Smell As Camouflage	32
	Roses	33
	The Fallen Angel	37
	Anosmia	40
	Prodigies of Smell	44
	A Famous Nose	45
	An Offering to the Gods	54
	Cleopatra's Heirs	59
	Touch	65
	The Feeling Bubble	67
	Speaking of Touch	70
	First Touches	71
	What is a Touch?	80
	The Code Senders	83
	Hair	84
	The Inner Climate	88
	The Skin Has Eyes	94
	Adventures In the Touch Dome	96
	Animals	98
	Tattoos	99
	Pain	101
	Easing Pain	104
	The Point of Pain	106
	Kissing	108
	The Hand	115
	Professional Touchers	119
	Taboos	121
	Subliminal Touch	122
	Taste	125
	The Social Sense	127
	Food and Sex	130
	The Omnivore's Picnic	132
	Of Cannibalism and Sacred Cows	135
	The Bloom of a Taste Bud	138
	The Ultimate Dinner Party	143
	Macabre Meals	146
	The Heart of Craving	148
	The Psychopharmacology of Chocolate	153
	In Praise of Vanilla	157
	The Truth About Truffles	161
	Ginger, and Other Medicines	163
	How to Make Moose Soup In a Hole in the Ground, or Dine in Space	165
	Et Fugu, Brute? Food as Thrill-Seeking	167
	Beauty and the Beasts	171
	Hearing	173
	The Hearing Heart	175
	Phantoms and Drapes	180
	Jaguar of Sweet Laughter	182
	Loud Noises	186
	The Limits of Hearing, the Power of Sound	188
	Deafness	191
	Animals	193
	Quicksand and Whale Songs	198
	The Violin Remembers	202
	Music and Emotion	205
	Is Music a Language?	209
	Measure for Measure	216
	Cathedrals in Sound	219
	Earth Calling	222
	Vision	227
	The Beholder's Eye	229
	How to Watch the Sky	235
	Light	249
	Color	252
	Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall	257
	Animals	260
	The Painter's Eye	267
	The Face of Beauty	270
	Watching a Night Launch of the Space Shuttle	279
	The Force of an Image: Ring Cycle	281
	The Round Walls of Home	283
	Synesthesia	287
	Fantasia	289
	Courting the Muse	292
	Postscript	301
	Further Reading	311
	Index	317

Editorial Reviews

Physiology and philosophy mesh in this poetic investigation of the five senses; essays explore synesthesia, food taboos, kissing and the power and diversity of music. ``Rooted in science, enlivened by her own convincing sense of wonder, Ackerman's essays awaken us to a fresh awareness,'' said PW. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The five senses not only serve biological functions, they also are inextricably a part of our culture. Award-winning poet Ackerman celebrates the senses by examining their biological bases and the various and bizarre ways we have come to indulge them. Her catalog of the senses is itself a sensuous journey, with prose rich in imagery and rhythm. Ackerman's book is a provocative and entertaining treat whose details will bestir the reader's imagination. Consider, for example, the guest whose pleasure for fragrance led to an untimely death in a shower of rose petals at a Roman feast, or the diner whose thrill at exciting the palate proved deadly upon tasting the poisonous puffer fish. Unlike the fish, this savory delight is recommended for general readers.-- Laurie Bartolini, Lincoln Lib., Springfield, Ill.

Library Journal

YA-- An exciting multidiscipline book that crosses the lines of literature, history, anthropology, music, psychology, sociology, and philosophy and that flows with grace and reason. The theme is expressed in such a way as to draw readers into experiential thought and, therefore, impacts heavily upon the way one looks at the issue of sensing and its role for humanity. It is sure to raise readers' consciousness level while providing researched and analyzed information on this topic. In addition, the language is clear and concise, which makes the book valuable to a large cross section of readers. The generous use of cultural and historical examples adds to the readability.-- Nancy Craig, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA

School Library Journal