Senses and SensibilitiesA 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 |
Contents
The Noblest Faculty | 15 |
Extensions of the Brain | 54 |
See I See | 65 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
acid adaptive androstenone animals aspartame auditory babies bats behavior birds bitter blind blink blood body bombykol bradykinin brain cause cells CH3 CH3 CH3 chemical cochlea cochlear implant cold color vision cornea cyclamate deaf detect developed diet drugs Dysgeusia eardrum environment especially evolutionary experience female flavor fluid frequency fruit glands hair hands hearing loss human insects lens lenses light look male mammals microscope middle ear molecules mother muscles nasal nerve nose odors olfaction olfactory ossicles owls pain papillae peepholes percent perfume pheromones pigment plants primates produce protein pupil quinine rats receptors response result retina saccharin salt salty scientists sense of smell sensitive sensory sexual skin sodium solution sound sour stimulation substances sucrose sugar sweet sweeteners taste buds temperature thaumatin therapeutic touch threshold tinnitus tion tongue touch turkey vultures vibration visual wavelengths waves wine York