Reviews

Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World's Smells by Harold McGee

mkragelj's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

3.5

cjbaird's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.75

mikecross's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not certain the target audience of this tome, it's not your science-interested non-fiction reader, as there is way too much organic chemistry, and there is too much (very interesting) narrative to be a reference work. I read it cover-to-cover and enjoyed many parts, but glazed over with all the chemistry discussions. The author seems exceptional, but just too much chemistry for me.

rogerjpatterson's review against another edition

4.0

While sometimes long on recitation of molecular compounds gleaned from the literature, McGee's book is ultimately a wide ranging natural history of things that smell.  He provides deep but focused and easy to understand background on everything from cosmology to chemistry, from fire to fermentation, from rocks to oysters.  So it is worth putting up with the sometimes rote repetition of the volatile chemicals contained in, say, asparagus, to learn the connections between things that smell and to learn what the smells of the world teach us about the way it came to be.  At 600 some dense pages, it is not an easy journey, but even the most pedantic parts bear at least a skim, and on the whole, it is a richly rewarding journey.

nahanarts's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

2.5

g_l_turner's review against another edition

Horribly wordy, poor scientific explanations. I skipped to the end and read bits here and there. Popular science should be much more readable.

richard052's review against another edition

3.0

this is a very comprehensive study.The 30 page introduction sets up the story very well...but.. this is a very deep dive to the bottom of every odor known to mankind. I have learned a lot in the first 125 pages but I lack the stamina to plow through to the end.
I think I need the condensed version to get there.
This is a better book to own than to take from the library.

reubend1ca9's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

The author put an amazing amount of work into this one but I would hesitate to recommend it to casual readers looking for easily accessible pop science. 

easterncomma's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death