Fermented herring is a polarizing topic. Many people find its smell disgusting. But Jonas Olofsson thinks it’s scrumptious. In his new book, The Forgotten Sense, Olofsson, a leading smell researcher and professor of psychology at Stockholm University, where he directs the Sensory Cognitive Interaction Lab, explains that smell preferences and capabilities are like fingerprints; each person’s is unique. This nugget is part of a crash course on what we need to know about our nose. We learn just how vital the sense of smell is to our lives and that many of us grossly underestimate its power.

The book covers the mechanics of smell, as well as medical and social history of all things olfactory. Olofsson also highlights new smell science research and technology, including AI-directed sensory smell games that can enhance our smell abilities, studies about the connection of human phenomes and smell, and scientific findings about the loss of smell from COVID-19.

The Forgotten Sense makes a complex topic accessible for everyone. Olofsson's clear, crisp writing is infused with wit and peppered amusing anecdotes. Highly recommend!

Excellent insight (sense pun intended) into a the history and power of smell that have stuck with me; the concept of smelling through your throat in particular really blew my mind, There is so much more nuance to uncover about what seems like a more mundane sense, and it was fascinating to learn how much of our "common knowledge" about smell is at best misleading or since disproven, and at worst empirically wrong. Highly recommend to anyone with a nasal cavity.

This was an enlightening and fun read. I've always been fascinated by smells because I think my nose is more sensitive than others. I also have a borderline unhealthy fascination of perfumes. Some popular science books can be either too diluted and simplified for the general audience, but this is advanced enough for those with a scientific background. Fun and educational!

This book was very interesting. Everything you need to know about the wonders of the nose. From different smells, to senses, to everything in between. Some parts of this book felt overwritten but overall, this was a solid book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

With the blurb likening this to the books of some of my favorite authors (Mary Roach, James Nestor, Bill Bryson...) I was really looking forward to this one! It didn't disappoint, and this covers the entirety of the human sense of smell as we understand it today.

The author focuses a lot of the book on a topic I have never really thought about before: the loss of smell (for example due to COVID-19) and how the sense of smell can be recovered, trained, and even improved.

There are a few nice descriptions of smell in the animal kingdom, and if you enjoy those sections I would direct you immediately to read Ed Yong's An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.

I had more of an interest in the animal senses than the human and more medical descriptions, hence the four stars from me, but it was overall quite interesting and a quick, easy read.

Despite having a favorite scent (orange blossoms), I’d never given any thought to how important that sense is. This brief, informative volume, discusses just that. Some people I know lost their sense of smell with COVID and I always thought how that must have been the least of their symptoms. Reading about the implications was eye-opening. Jonas Olofsson has performed fascinating experiments to explore the biology of smell, as well as the psychology of it. The book includes some animal facts, cultural aspects and even tips to improve your smelling. Written in an approachable language, it is clear and easy to understand. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys learning about the human body.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Mariner Books.

Surprisingly insightful and helped me slow down and notice the smells around me. The smell of my mother's books, the waft of my daughter's shampoo, the freshness of a clean car... noticing is the first step to appreciating and savoring. Really happy I got to read this!

Wikipedia describes smell as “The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.”

I imagine that most of us do not think about our sense of smell until we smell something lovely (a favorite dish being cooked) or something we would rather not smell (as in the odor of the litter box before it is cleaned out). In fact, I remember lack of a sense of smell that the book discusses as a tell-tale sign of a possible COVID-19 infection before we had a test available for detection.

As those who contracted COVID-19 or had a head cold that blocked our ability to detect smells, losing one’s sense of smell, in a word, sucks. And given how important our sense of smell is when we suddenly lose it, there is a woeful lack of research into olfaction as compared to other anatomical processes.

In the book, “The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell—and the Extraordinary Power of the Nose,” Dr. Jonas Olofsson does a splendid job of exploring the world of our sense of smell, as well as detailing his own research in the subject matter. He describes the history of the sense of smell and the current research into the subject.

While I knew that the sense of smell was entwined with the sense of taste (think about the times you’ve had a head cold and was unable to taste your food until you were able to clear at least one nostril), I wasn’t aware of how intricate the dance between the senses was. I took great enjoyment in learning more about the subject of taste and smell.

This was an enjoyable book to read, in fact, I ended up reading late into the night because I liked it so much. I recommend this book to anyone interested in medical history, as well as those of us interested in learning more about the sense of smell.


4/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion, which I have given here.]

I requested this book for review to determine the readability of the book for the non-scientist and to see if and how it used external sources. I picked several chapters to review, rather than read the entire book. I am pleased to report that this is a very readable and accessible book, not bogged down in science that the reader needs to have taken a class in to understand. Much like the books of Mary Roach, to which it has been compared, this book is engaging and understandable. The author references their own research conclusions as well as those of others as it explores the evolution, biology, and psychology related to the sense of smell and intermixes culture and history. Honestly, as a fan of popular science, I'm really excited to read this entire book.

As for the use of external sources, the author has included at the end of the text a list of sources used for each chapter, but the text itself does not contain endnotes or footnotes. This indicates to me that the book is great for a popular read, but less useful for someone researching the topic.

I already know people I'll be recommending this book to.