#22: What the Nose Knows
Melanie Kiechle introduces us to the 19th-century world of\xa0smell detectives, where the nose reigned supreme and cities mapped their stench patterns; \xa0Sam Kean tells how gases can have a profound effect on us\u2014from knocking us out to making us laugh, and even causing the French Revolution. Plus, top off our exploration into the sensory world of invisible forces with an excerpt from a new book on all the light we cannot see.
Go beyond the episode:
- Melanie Kiechle\u2019s\xa0Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America
- Sam Kean\u2019s\xa0Caesar\u2019s Last Breath: Decoding the\xa0Secrets of the Air Around Us
- Check out a modern-day\xa0smell map of the City of Light\xa0(and Odor), from graphic designer Kate McClean
- Live in Pittsburgh? Download\xa0Smell PGH, the app that tracks pollution odors (read more\xa0here)
- Read more about\xa0the volcanic eruption\xa0that led to the French Revolution
- Flip through the scanned pages of Humprhy Davy\u2019s book on his laughing gas experiments, which could use a funnier title:\xa0Researches, chemical and philosophical chiefly concerning nitrous oxide, or diphlogisticated nitrous air, and its respiration
Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.Subscribe: iTunes\xa0\u2022 Feedburner\xa0\u2022 Stitcher\xa0\u2022 Google Play\xa0\u2022 AcastHave suggestions for projects you\u2019d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org.
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