Scan barcode
nikkideeley's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Book 27 of 2024: Smell Detectives - Melanie A. Kiechle
Smell Detectives explores the way 19th Century Americans identified sanitary challenges, caused by the rapid industrial and urban growth of the period, through their sense of smell.
Review:
⭐️ 3/5
An interesting read and clearly very well researched and understood by the author. It was fascinating to see how people had understandings of the impacts of smells and germs before the science was established. It appears there was a lot of common sense in the 19th century! It was very interesting to hear how smell guided the design of cities such as New York - definitely something I’d never know before this book. I also appreciated women being represented in the book as they are often overlooked in history (especially scientific history). The book did read more like a dissertation than a non-fiction book which did make the experience a little drier than expected - even with a scientific background, it felt more like reading a thesis than a book.
Challenges:
📚Books in 2024: 27/60
📚52 Book Club Challenge: 13/52
📚Prompt #2 of the 52 Book Club Challenge: Bibliosmia: A Smelly Book
Book Information:
📖 Pages: 352
📖 Format: Audiobook
📖 Type: Non-Fiction
📖 Genre: Science, History
Favourite Quotes:
“Stoves - the favourite poison of America”
“If you smell something, say something”
fractaltexan's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting look at how smell can be used to write, and create, history.
moreofacomment's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
It's a series of case studies that details a historical period when American public health response transitioned from centuries-old belief in miasma theory to germ theory. As presented in the book, the historical transition, while a triumph of science, also marked the substantive loss of the public voice.
longer review: https://moreofacomment.my/wp/2021/07/07/book-smell-detectives/
longer review: https://moreofacomment.my/wp/2021/07/07/book-smell-detectives/
More...