book smell

  • A Book by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

    Whether or not we like the contents, most of us agree: books smell pretty good. (For the truly devoted, there’s even a paper-scented perfume you can wear.) The chemistry blog Compound Interest explores what exactly makes books smell so good…

  • Steinitz’s Sense of Smell

    If you can’t describe the color red to someone born blind, here are some scents you can’t describe to someone born anosmic, or without a sense of smell: “feet, chalk, lilacs, gardenias, sour milk, rain, new cars, Chanel No. 5,…

  • “Grassy Notes with a Tang of Acids and a Hint of Vanilla”

    That’s not from the back of a wine label, but rather the mouth of a chemist describing “that old book smell.” Specifically, lead scientist Matija Strlic, explained the compounds as a “combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a…