Reddit mentions of The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell

Here goes the dump:

On perfume industry:

Chandler Burr - The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York - the book that originally got me into fragrances. It is exactly what it says on the cover: an inside look at how mainstream fragrances (specifically Jardin Sur Le Nil by Hermes and Lovely by S J Parker) are developed.

Jean Claude Ellena - Diary of a Nose J-C Ellena is the head perfumer at Hermes and a part time writer (and a hero of the previous book). This book is more about his personal reminiscences and thoughts about perfumes. He also gives an interesting list of cool fragrance recipes (accords) in the appendix

Jean Claude Ellena - Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent - by the same author. This book is mostly about the industry.

Denyse Beaulieu - The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent This is an autobiographic book from a woman who reeeealy loves perfumes and managed to convinced a famous perfumer Bertrand Duchafour to make a perfume for her. Sometimes reads more like an erotic novel but a good book.

Perfume guides:

Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez - Perfumes: The A-Z Guide - a famous guide, very quirky and opinionated but their perfume descriptions are great fun to read.

Luca Turin's blog Turin is a famous perfume freak and olfaction scientist, he stopped writing, but the blog posts are available for download.

Chandler Burr - articles Burr is a self-styled perfume art critic, who writes for major newspaper and magazines. His articles make a good intro for a layman.

Barbara Herman - Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume This is about collecting antique perfumes. Reads a like a slightly edited collection of blog posts (which I think it indeed is).

Tessa Williams - Cult Perfumes A guide to niche perfumes. I suspect most of the text was written by the brands themselves, because sometimes it has a marketing blurb feel to it. Nevertheless it gives a good overview of major players.

The H&R Books (4 Volume Set) Book of Perfume, Fragrance Guide , Feminine Notes, Fragrance Guide, Masculine Notes, Guide to Fragrance Ingredients It doesn't say all that much about each perfumes, just the notes, but what it lacks in depth it makes up in breadth.

Michael Edwards - Fragrances of The World - another huge compendium. Don't have it myself, but looks very solid.

On general olfaction:

Chandler Burr - Emperor of Scent - it's about Luca Turin and his new theory of olfaction. I get the feeling that the technicalities are over the author's head but it's a fun read. Has a lot about fragrances as well.

Luca Turin - The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell the book by the man himself. Fun popular science.

Avery Gilbert - What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life A collection of popular sketches about olfaction, from Smell-o-vision to the way they train police dogs

Gunter Ohloff, Wilhelm Pickenhagen, Philip Kraft - Scent and Chemistry - I havent read it yet, but it comes with high recommendations.

I also have a bunch of books on perfume making, but these probably should go into a separate topic

For anybody who would like a pop-science rendering of the "vibration" theory of scent, I can recommend Luca Turin's book, The Secret Of Scent

It's (obviously) rather one-sided, but is a pretty good read.

What's on your scent to-try list right now?

I think it was this one? I read/skimmed several. Lol.
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Scent-Adventures-Perfume-Science/dp/0061133841/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WSYNFTMAVV3G5A7B82SQ

All of these are on loan from my library network and on Amazon.

Coming to My Senses; A Story of Perfume, Pleasure, and an Unlikely Bride, by Alyssa Harad. The book that got me into this. An account of how author got into it, recommended for those interested in niche.

What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life Avery Gilbert

Scent and Subversion: Decoding A Century Of Provocative Perfume by Barbera Herman



Fragrant; The Secret Life of Scent Mandy Aftel. Author trivia; before Aftel was a perfumer, she was a psychotherapist.

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.

The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell Author Luca Turin explores the two competing theories of smell. Is scent determined by molecular shape or molecular vibrations? 




Available sometime in June I believe, the new edition of The Perfume Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez will be available.

Here's some goodness from Instagram from Mandy Aftel