The Emperor Of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession and the Last Mystery of the Senses [Paperback]

Burr details Turin's experiments and his successful (he believes) searches for proof through the late 1990s. But he also describes Turin's unsuccessful attempts to be published in prestigious scientific magazines, his battles royal with other researchers, some of whom have rejected his ideas without reading his papers, and his disappointments with the "Big Boys," the world's seven biggest makers of perfumes, who would benefit directly if Turin were correct. Ultimately, Burr concludes that the scientific community and its attitudes toward Turin reflect their "scientific corruption, corruption in the most mundane and systemic [sense]."

For whatever reasons, Burr is unsuccessful in getting opposing scientists to discuss Turin's vibration theory in relation to their belief in a molecule's shape as a determinant of smell, and he ultimately presents a book that is biased in favor of Turin's work. By the end of the book, Burr has clearly abandoned any sense of impartiality and become a supporter of Turin. He inserts an Author's Note three-quarters of the way into the book to justify his inability to present an alternative viewpoint, concluding that scientific rejection of Turin's theory is the result of "vested self-interest and bad science."

Turin is clearly a difficult man, however, and his attitudes, reflected in humorous and sarcastic comments about other scientists and their ideas, may well have contributed to his lack of acceptance. Though one of his supporters praises him for being the first person to apply quantum mechanics to a physical problem, he also indicates that Turin's biggest flaw is his impatience. (In fact, Turin has already abandoned this work, moving on to a new project studying energy storage in cells.) Fascinating, though complex in its discussions of biology, chemistry, and physics, the book is also fun to read--the story of a maverick who had a great idea which no one takes seriously, at least not yet. Mary Whipple

The author uses the style of an investigative journalist detailing all his meetings with the key protagonists, the two fiercely opposed camps of Shape and Vibration. The Shapists – connotations about “form over function” are not entirely innocent – propagate the theory that our sense of smell is based on molecular shape recognition by our nasal smell receptors. The Shape theory of smell has to date dominated this field of research. The Vibration camp has Turin as its standard bearer. His original research posits that our olfactory sense is based on electron-tunnelling by the nasal smell receptors. The molecules we smell are analysed through a process of biological spectroscopy making use of an electron’s natural tendency to tunnel through molecules carrying, in this case, an olfactory perception. The spectroscopy consists of the molecule being “smelled” by the tunnelling electron, and subsequently exhibiting a vibration pattern. The vibration can be represented by a wavelength. Hence, the olfactory bulb in our brain differentiates between smells by matching the resulting objective “olfactory” wavelengths with subjective smell perceptions. If accepted by the scientific community at large – and it is by no way today – Turin’s Vibration theory could be worth a Nobel prize.

However, the author fails to give Turin his full credit. In the final chapter, he lists all the attempted interviews of Turin’s rabid enemies, the Shapists. Their reaction, seemingly, is to ignore Turin and his theory and not to address the fundamental scientific proof he has put forward in support of Vibration. However, a lack of dialectical argumentation does not imply that the hypothesis posited is therefore true. Worse, Turin’s reported current research activity outside his olfactory field of interest would suggest he has given up on establishing Vibration as the new (scientific) truth about smell. Somehow, more elaboration is needed.

This flaw in the book does, fortunately, not detract from the merits of reading about Turin’s rather infectious obsession with science. A “touche-à-tout” with wide ranging interests, Turin is colourfully portrayed as a genius who can truly think outside the box, applying concepts laterally across different sciences. In the process, we see why Renaissance man or homo universalis is making a comeback. Specialist scientists, it seems, have become too narrow-minded to see the broader picture. I think it was Pascal who said that man will learn more and more about less and less until one day we will know all about nothing.

And if scientific flamboyance wasn’t enough, Burr portrays also Turin the man – a voluble, occasionally narcissistic (I’m sure he checks reviews on Amazon), ever scientifically engrossed, idealistic, badly romancing, humoristic, stereotypical extrovert Italian. Turin’s story was waiting to be told, and the book does not disappoint. I’m not big on science, but none of the drawings, none of the formulaic descriptions put me off from reading the book in record time. A thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended read suitable for all.