Senses and Sensibilities

From Library Journal This book reveals the world of the senses. It includes a wide variety of sensory aspects, ranging from the anatomy of the human eye and the physiological effects of touching to the historical development and chemical analysis of artificial sweeteners. There are tidbits of interesting information about ourselves, other animals, our physical world, and the interactions among us. Different chapters are devoted to each of the five senses. Given a topic of this nature, scientific and technical terminologies are inevitable, yet science writer Smith presents the material with humor and in a blend of science, history, folklore, and personal anecdotes. This approach makes an otherwise serious subject rather lively and entertaining, and the result is a general interest book suitable for public and junior college libraries.- May Rathbone, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. & State Univ. Lib., BlacksburgCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description A Guided Tour Through the Fascinating World of the Human Senses … Senses & Sensibilities Have you ever wondered what causes color blindness? Or whether the attraction between couples depends at all on smell? Or why we like ice cream better than green peas? If you’re curious about the phenomena of the human senses, here is a highly readable, nontechnical guide to the physiology and functioning of the human faculties. In this revealing examination of the intricate spheres of our senses, you will find intriguing and often surprising facts about the origin of the sensory structures, their functions and dysfunctions, and artificial augmentations of human sensation. Each of the five senses—hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch—is covered in its own chapter, with thorough discussion of how each sense is involved in your interaction with your environment and with other people. Throughout, Senses and Sensibilities offers a fascinating blend of science, research, history, folklore, and personal anecdotes that together provide a finely textured and detailed portrait of how our senses work to define our world. “From its witty title to the last page, the book is entertaining. Chock full of lore, both scientific and literary, about human sensation, and all presented in clear, simple terms.” —Richard Selzer, M.D. author of Confessions of a Knife “Jillyn Smith’s book confirms the notion that the essay, in particular, the natural history essay, is the most exciting kind of writing today. Unexpected insights and feeling arise throughout. I learned new things about the human condition and the natural world on every page, and came away feeling brighter….” —Thomas J. Lyon editor of This Incomperable Lande: A Book of American Nature Writing From the Inside Flap “Our special senses allow us a wide variety of experience: to appreciate human voices and a symphony, for instance, as well as the screech of brakes or the whistle of a train. They allow us to distinguish ripe berries and the vivid colors of a van Gogh painting, as well as night stars and features within a dark movie theatre. They allow us to detect … the short chains of volatile amino acids released from rotting flesh. They allow us to discriminate among bitter, sweet, sour, and salty tastes. They allow us to derive pleasure from touching fine furs or fabrics or a baby’s smooth skin and to protect ourselves from potential danger—sources of heat, cold, and pain. Through ingeniously engineered structures and special nervous system cells called receptors, and through electrochemical transmission in our nervous systems, our sensations provide experience.” —From the Prologue of Senses and Sensibilities In this marvelously well-rounded exploration of the structure and functioning of the human faculties, author Jillyn Smith conducts a guided tour of each of the five senses—hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. The scope of coverage in Senses and Sensibilities stands apart from other works on this sub