The Emperor of Scent: A True Story of Perfume and Obsession

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 352 pages
• Published by: Random House Trade Paperbacks February 10, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0375759816
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0375759819
• Book Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 9.1 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Nobody knows for sure what makes our noses work the way they do, not even the $20-billion-a-year perfume industry's legions of chemists, whose jobs depend on appealing to those noses. So what happens when Luca Turin, a likable scientist who happens to possess an very sensitive nose, proposes a new theory of smell that promises to unravel the mystery once and for all? That's what readers find out in this often funny, picaresque expos‚ of the closed world of whiffs, aromas and odors-and the people who study them. Burr (A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation) narrates in depth Turin's efforts to publish in the journal Nature: the maddening peer review process lasts more than a year and ends with smug dismissals by scientists who don't understand his work. Turin, whose urbane personality carries the book, runs into similar brick walls when he tries to sell his ideas to the "Big Boys" of the secretive and byzantine perfume industry. Burr, who is skilled at parsing complex science and smart turns of phrase, enters the story in the first human being to describe his own difficulties as a journalist writing about Turin: critics clam up and get hostile when asked about Turin's theory. Burr concludes that the hysterical, often incoherent resistance portrayed here "embodies the failure of the scientific process." Grim words for a book so full of wit.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
While waiting for the Eurostar, Burr, a regular contributor to the Atlantic Monthly and author of A Separate Creation, met Dr. Luca Turin, the titular emperor. A biophysicist at University College of London, Turin believes that the nose deciphers smell by using not the shape of molecules but their vibrations. He also possesses a unique gift for scent and the ability to write about perfumes as few can. From their chance meeting, Burr set out to write "the simple story of the creation of a scientific theory" by chronicling Turin's work over several years. Having quickly discovered that his subject's story was much more complex, Burr ends up taking readers into the perfume industry and the scientific publishing world. The view is not flattering (the ugly side of peer review is depicted here in all its backstabbing glory), but thanks to Burr's sensible and honest reporting, it is an accurate portrait. Burr is also straightforward about the difficulties of working with a brilliant and eccentric man like Turin. His fascinating book is highly recommended for all collections.
--Michael D. Cramer, Schwarz BioSciences, RTP, NC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses (Hardcover) In this absorbing book, Burr describes the fragrance industry and how scents are created and marketed, weaves a "scientific morality tale" of professional "corruption in the most mundane and systemic and virulent and sadly human sense of jealousy and calcified minds and vested interests," and attempts to explain and defend Luca Turin's novel theory of smell. He succeeds with the first two goals. Readers will learn about the seven "Big Boys" (the companies that create virtually all new scents) and how their chemists and perfumers produce fragrance. Whether you enjoy this aspect of the book depends, perhaps, on your interest in fragrance itself; the workings of these businesses fascinated me, but the descriptions of various scents (as well as Turin's remarkably nondescript reviews from his "perfume guide") struck me as tedious. Burr also portrays scientists as plagued by self-interest and laziness and resistance to new ideas. This suggestion always surprises lay audiences, but it is hardly news to readers of Thomas Kuhn or of science writing in general. Galileo, Mendel, the early proponents of the Big Bang Theory, and many others encountered the same hostility or indifference faced by Turin. The success of the third goal--detailing and defending Turin's olfactory research--is limited, however. On the one hand, Burr ably elucidates the prevailing theory--that we sense molecules by their shape--and raises the standard objections to this view. He then clearly presents Turin's theory: that smell results from molecular vibration (more specifically, from electron tunneling). Turin may ultimately be proven right, but Burr admits, "Though Turin has provided fascinating convincing preliminary evidence, there of course has to be independent confirmation by other labs before Vibration is accepted." On the other hand, Burr's commentary on Turin's research suffers from several weaknesses. First, Turin (and Burr) tend to see everything in black and white. Turin is especially prone to hyperbole, noting several times that "Everyone can smell as well as everyone else." This is nonsense. Everyone has different base perceptions, and some people have deficiencies that affect their olfactory ability. Turin himself argues that smoking may actually enhance smell and admits that some people mistake the stench of urine with the aroma of honey--two scents many of us have never confused. In the same vein, Turin's opponents are portrayed as unwavering absolutists. Burr depicts the reception toward Turin's talk at a conference as hostile, yet none of the audience's questions, although challenging and skeptical, strike me as unreasonable or outrageous. (Instead, it is Turin who seems unnecessarily defensive and condescending.) Second, Burr's book is entirely one-sided. He says, in a special author's note, that Turin's opponents refused to cooperate, but this argument is specious. Journalism is more than interviews. For example, even though "John Amoore had for years waged active war (via journal, Internet, and international conferences) against Vibration," Burr reprints not one word of this apparently awe-inspiring paper trail. Throughout, Burr transcribes page after page of Turin's gossip-filled, meandering conversations and e-mails exchanges, but he usually refers to the extensive scientific literature only when Turin supplies the reference. Most seriously, Burr tends to report many of Turin's statements uncritically. For example, Turin claims he discovered that proteins conduct electrons and that he thereby created a diode out of protein. Has this discovery been confirmed? Are there papers on this topic? Have other scientists used this finding? If so, how? (The only evidence Burr offers: Turin got the diode patented. There are, of course, thousands of patents for unworkable devices.) Likewise, on at least four occasions, Turin denounces any link between smell and sex. Ever since the discovery of pheromones in silkworms fifty years ago, hundreds of scientists have explored the relationships between neurology and scent and sex. Turin dismisses them all, even though he appears to have done no research on the matter himself--and Burr never questions this unsubstantiated assertion. Let's be clear: I'm not saying that Turin is wrong; rather, Burr comes across as Turin's publicist rather than a journalist who has confirmed Turin's statements, read the relevant articles, and tracked down the evidence. As a result, he probably won't convince researchers about the plausibility of Turin`s fascinating new theory. "The Emperor of Scent" raises a stink but never really clears the air.