Avery Gilbert (2008). What the nose knows: The science of scent in everyday life. New York: Crown.
Avery is a professional sniffer as well as an olfactory scientist. This light but well-documented book will raise any reader’s esteem for human olfactory ability. According to Avery, the main difference between people who appreciate and don’t appreciate their smell world is one of attention to it. Most of us have the ability to smell our world far more than we do. The book includes such topics as drug sniffing (by humans as well as dogs), the role of scent in flavor, attempts to odorize movies, and the role of odor in evoking memories.
Scott Fishman, with Lisa Berger (2000). The war on pain. Dublin, Ireland: Newleaf.
In this relatively brief, nontechnical book, Fishman, a physician specializing in the treatment of pain, shares poignant stories of people’s suffering and his efforts to relieve it. Along the way, he discusses the many causes of pain and the many weapons in the arsenal against it, ranging from acupuncture and behavior therapy to drugs and surgery. The epilogue is about making peace with pain in cases where it can’t be defeated.
Tiffany Field (2003). Touch. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
In this fascinating book, based on her own research and that of others, Field describes the psychological functions of the sense of touch. Of greatest interest is research on the medical benefits of touch and massage, including growth-promoting effects of touch in infants.
Daniel J. Levitin (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. New York: Dutton.
This delightful book, about the neuroscience and psychology of music, is written by a former musical performer and producer turned neuroscientist. It deals with questions of how our brains process musical sounds, how such sounds act upon emotional mechanisms in our brains, and the reasons for individual differences in musical preferences. In the final chapter, Levitin argues that music played an important evolutionary role in attracting mates and in binding people together into cooperative groups.
Barb Stuckey (2012). Taste: Surprising stories and science about why food tastes good. New York: Simon & Schuster
Barb Stuckey works as a professional food inventor and knows the five flavor categories with profound fluency. She uses her own experiences to demonstrate the importance of our other senses in taste, what the five basic tastes involve, and how to balance them. In her easy-to-read book, Stuckey shows readers why we experience foods the way we do, why some people like bitter tastes and others prefer sweet, and she explains how we go from sensing food to perceiving flavor.