For the true perfume fanatic, Luca Turin needs no introduction. The first edition of his Parfums: Le Guide was published in 1992, and quickly brought him to the attention of perfume fans and perfumers alike. It became the bestselling perfume guide in France, and for many of us, it remains the gold standard of intelligent writing about perfume.
His theory of smell first gained widespread notice through the BBC documentary The Code in the Nose, and was later the subject of Chandler Burr's 2002 book The Emperor of Scent. If you are not familiar with his theory, you can read a very brief background on shape vs. vibration in this article on Olfaction (link no longer working, sorry!). There is a longer article on current theories of olfaction on the Leffingwell site.
Since 2001, Dr. Turin has been with Flexitral, Inc.
The Emperor of Scent leaves off in 1999. Have your theories about how smell works changed since then, and if so, how?
The state of the art has moved on, though the main points remain unchanged…
