Одорама: Культурная история запахов

Nauchnyĭ zhurnalist Federiko Kukso vzi͡alsi͡a reabilitirovatʹ samoe nedoot͡senennoe chuvstvo - oboni͡anie. Ego kniga - nastoi͡ashchai͡a mashina vremeni, voskreshai͡ushchai͡a mnozhestvo utrachennykh navsegda oboni͡atelʹnykh vospominaniĭ: ot smrada neandertalʹskikh peshcher do aromatov Drevnego Egipta, ot zapakhov rimskikh orgiĭ do miazmov chumnoĭ Evropy, ot zlovonii͡a Versali͡a do blagoukhanii͡a dezodorirovannykh ofisov, gde razrabatyvai͡utsi͡a strategii olʹfaktornogo marketinga. Chem pakhla Luna dli͡a pervykh astronavtov? Pochemu v i͡azykakh tak malo slov, opisyvai͡ushchikh zapakhi? Pravda li, chto li͡ubye zapakhi mogut bytʹ sozdany iskusstvenno? Zachem my pytaemsi͡a meni͡atʹ, zamalchivatʹ i dazhe repressirovatʹ estestvennye zapakhi nashikh tel? Chitatelʹ, ne utrativshiĭ sposobnosti derzhatʹ nos po vetru, nesomnenno, uchuet glavnui͡u myslʹ avtora: t͡sivilizat͡sii͡a - ėto ne tolʹko idei, voĭ ny i tekhnologii, no i, v ochenʹ znachitelʹnoĭ stepeni, zapakhi. Vedʹ imenno oboni͡anie - ta skrytai͡a nervnai͡a sistema, kotorai͡a upravli͡aet nasheĭ pami͡atʹi͡u, strakhom, voleĭ k vlasti i zhelaniem.

Scientific journalist Federico Cukso undertook to rehabilitate the most underrated sense of smell. His book is a real time machine, reviving many olfactory memories that have been lost forever: from the stench of Neanderthal caves to the aromas of Ancient Egypt, from the smells of Roman orgies to the miasma of plague—ridden Europe, from the stench of Versailles to the fragrance of deodorized offices where olfactory marketing strategies are being developed. What did the moon smell like to the first astronauts? Why are there so few words describing smells in languages? Is it true that any odors can be created artificially? Why are we trying to change, silence, and even repress the natural odors of our bodies? The reader, who has not lost the ability to keep his nose in the wind, will undoubtedly smell the main idea of the author: civilization is not only ideas, wars and technologies, but also, to a very large extent, smells. After all, it is the sense of smell that is the hidden nervous system that controls our memory, fear, will to power and desire.