The Scented Ape: The Biology and Culture of Human Odour (Studies on Individual Development)

This book examines the sense of smell in humans, comparing it with the known functions of the same sense in other animals. Odorous cues play a role in sexual physiology and behavior in animals and there are claims that odor can play the same role in humans. The place of odors and scents in aesthetics and in psychoanalysis serves to illustrate the link between the emotional centers and the brain. The book presents arguments to explain the way in which our ancestral past has given rise to our modern day olfactory enigmas. Containing a glossary and chapter summaries the book will be accessible to a wide audience. The human nose a zoological conundrum? 1 Chemoreception and the origin of sexual reproduction 12 The scented ape 49 The nasogenital relationship 79 Scent and the psyche 120 Perfume 142 Incense 168 The noselessness of man 207 The human nose and the monkeys tail 235 An examination of the sense of smell in humans, relating the present day role of the sense to our evolutionary past. Chapter summaries and a glossary of technical terms makes the book accessible to readers lacking a strong zoological, physiological or anatomical background.