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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
Pretty dense and heavy on science. Definitely not a casual read.
DNF
Interesting, but had to return it to the library before finishing.
Interesting, but had to return it to the library before finishing.
Harold McGee creates a fascinating, well-researched, and beautifully written book about the chemistry behind the smells of the world.
It's a testament to McGee's talent as a writer - and passion for the subject - that something as seemingly dry as molecular chemistry could be written about so eloquently. While it can definitely be dense at times, for those with a deeper knowledge of the science of scents, it's required reading.
It's a testament to McGee's talent as a writer - and passion for the subject - that something as seemingly dry as molecular chemistry could be written about so eloquently. While it can definitely be dense at times, for those with a deeper knowledge of the science of scents, it's required reading.
Hmmm. I don’t know how I feel. This was interesting, especially in light of so many people losing their sense of smell because of Covid-19. It was encyclopedic. Fascinating yet boring. The author suggests skipping around which I ended up appreciating. I think for me what was missing was the how. How does one develop this increase pallet of scent recognition. How does one train themselves to recognize more and more in the world of scent. I guess it just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
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.
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.
informative
slow-paced