Stinky science Why the smelliest smells smell so smelly

Edward Kay

Book - 2019

This book about the science of smells takes a funky subject and makes it fascinating --- and hilarious! It starts with the basics, from the reason why things stink to how our sense of smell works (hint: it has to do with the six million scent receptors way up inside our noses). Then come some specifics such as how and why smells are closely linked to memories, descriptions of some of the stinkiest stinks on Earth and information about the chemicals that smells are made of.

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Subjects
Genres
Instructional and educational works
Published
Toronto, ON : Kids Can Press [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Edward Kay (author)
Other Authors
Mike Shiell (illustrator)
Physical Description
43 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm
Bibliography
Includes index.
ISBN
9781771383820
  • Why some things stink - and how you know they do
  • How you smelt what you got dealt
  • The unforgettable funk: smell and memory
  • Stinkiest stinks: icky animals and vile vegetation
  • The structure of stinks
  • Super sniffers.
Review by Horn Book Review

Where there's a stink, there's bound to be something disgusting--that's the charm of this book about the olfactory senses of humans and animals. From rotting flesh to poop to skunk spray, readers learn about many aspects of smell. Cartoony caricature illustrations add to the kid-appeal. The fonts of the chapter titles and subject headings are close enough to make the organization a little confusing. Glos., ind. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

More than you ever wanted to know about why stuff stinks.Everybody smellsboth transitively with their noses and intransitively due to the bacteria on their bodies. But what does the sense of smell do for us? If we smell smoke, as from a burning building, we get nervous. That keeps us safe. The same is true about noticing the foul odor of rotting meat. The meat itself doesn't give off the odorit's the organisms living off the meat that make it smell unappetizing (except to vultures and other carrion eaters). Six million receptors on the olfactory epithelium in the human nose detect scent molecules in the air and transmit that information to the brain. Canadian science writer Kay goes on to explain the connection between scent and memory and how we know what outer space smells like ("a combination of schoolbus exhaust and incinerated hamburger," according to astronauts). He explains the various reasons animals may benefit from smelling awful (and which ones smell the worst: the green wood hoopoe and the polecat). He tells readers why Limburger cheese smells like feet (they share the same microbe) and which animals are super sniffers (those vultures mentioned earlier can smell carrion from a great distance, and moles smell "in stereo"). All the cheeky stinky facts are accompanied by Shiell's bright, cheerily gross cartoon illustrations, which depict humans of diverse races being offended and offending others. A good introduction to the science of scent certain to hook reluctant scientists (and readers) with its yuck factor. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.