The Essence of Perfume

by Roja Dove
Black Dog, London, UK, 2008
269 pp. Trade, $ 70.00 (£40 UK)
ISBN: 978-1-906155-49-0.

Reviewed by Wilfred Niels Arnold
University of Kansas Medical Center

warnold@kumc.edu

The visual sense is probably the most influential for the lives of mammals, yet the smell response is particularly effective in triggering emotional and behavioral reactions. This is an on-going area of research embracing biochemistry, physiology, and neurology. We know that odorants are detected in the nose by sensory neurons possessing specific odorant receptors. The initial information is transmitted to the olfactory bulb of the brain and thence to the olfactory cortex. The brain interprets these signals via a code and pattern recognition process. In 2004, Richard Axel and Linda Buck shared a Nobel Prize for contributions within these fields.

How humans with about 400 specific odorant receptors are able to distinguish thousands of different scents is still not completely explained. [Incidentally, a mouse has three times as many different odorant receptors as a man.] The three-dimensional molecular structures of odoriferous compounds and their complementary relationships with the receptors that they ‘tickle’ are obviously involved. However, the inability to predict the properties of a particular compound from its chemical structure remains a consuming problem for basic scientists. Accordingly, the fragrance industry is a precise but largely empirical endeavor.

Roja Dove has been steeped in the business and culture of perfume for many decades, and his book is an anthology of memoir, history, illustration and opinion. But it makes only preliminary attempts to address the science. Thus chapter one “The sense of smell” starts with a full-page photograph of “Woman smelling an orchard,” entails just two and a half pages (with more white space than text), launches into sociology, and alerts us to Dove’s penchant for jargon, e.g. ‘bespoke’ instead of ‘custom-made’ as in “bespoke fragrances.” Succeeding chapters with engaging titles such as “The birth of modern perfumery,”

“Methods of extraction,” and “Raw materials,” provide useful introductions but lack depth of content. The coverage of perfume bottles, labels, and even bottle makers (chapter 8) is extensive enough to attract the aficionado. The most charming aspect of the book is chapter 6, “The great classics.” Herein we find an archive that makes connections among brand names, inventions, world events, and famous people. The consistently high quality of illustrations is notable and the overall visual presentation is attractive. This volume is accessible to random and short-term perusal and will more likely find its way to the coffee table than the library.

Roja (born Roger) Dove was once a medical research student at Cambridge University where he developed an interest in olfactory science. He had an apprenticeship at Belle Époque Guerlain boutique, Paris, before developing his Haute Parfumerie on the fifth floor at Harrods Department Store, London. He calls himself “Professeur de Parfums,” and speaks of 30 years of research related to the current volume. The book has a bibliography of some 130 items and a small index of about 185 entries. The cover price of $70 is a bit steep, although one notes that the Amazon.com discounted price is already $47.60. Unfortunately both pure and applied science were given the back seat, thus limiting the potential audience among readers of Leonardo.