Perfumery: The Psychology and Biology of Fragrance, edited by Steve Van Toller and George H. Dodd. The Perfume Society has been working with Professor Dodd since the idea for this project first came into our heads: a ‘scatty professor’ straight from central casting, he has a gazillion ideas in his head and a large helping of pure, scientific brilliance. These days, Professor Dodd offers smelling courses for whiskey, wine, gin – and (through his Perfume Academy) perfumes; read more about them here. But having set up the Department of Aroma Sciences at Warwick University, this book built George’s reputation: a collation of scientific papers about smell, from biologists, chemists, physicians, psychologists and sociologists, bringing together the two areas of aromatherapy and perfumery. (Which normally never speak to each other). It looks at how fragrance really can shape our mood, how others view us at interviews, odours and disease, and the science of fragrance selection. This is not the Professor Brian Cox, Wonders-of-the-Universe, bring-science-to-the-masses approach (at times it makes our heads explode!), but it’s riveting stuff – and work that nobody else really seems to have done.
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