WEBVTT - Why Do Books Smell So Good?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam Here. If you're like me, you love

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<v Speaker 1>the smell of old fashioned analog paper books, old books,

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<v Speaker 1>new books, and researchers at University College London suggests that

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<v Speaker 1>these scents aren't just nice, they're an important part of

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<v Speaker 1>the human experience. In an extensive study of smells, heritage

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<v Speaker 1>and historic paper published in the journal Heritage Science, the

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<v Speaker 1>authors argue the importance of documenting and preserving smells, but why.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers realized that visitors at St. Paul's Cathedral, Dean

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<v Speaker 1>and Chapter Library in London frequently comment on the aroma

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<v Speaker 1>of the space, saying they feel like they can smell

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<v Speaker 1>history thanks to our limbic system. Odors can make us

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<v Speaker 1>pretty emotional, especially when they evoke memories. Sense affect how

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<v Speaker 1>we experience different cultures and places and help us gain

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<v Speaker 1>more insight into and engage more deeply with the past.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers posit that smells are part of our cultural

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<v Speaker 1>heritage and have historical value and deserve to be identified, analyzed,

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<v Speaker 1>and archived. Using chemical analysis and sensory descriptions, the study

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<v Speaker 1>authors set about figuring out a way for scientists and

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<v Speaker 1>historians to do so. In one experiment, the researchers asked

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<v Speaker 1>visitors at the historic library to characterize the odors they smelled.

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<v Speaker 1>More than seventy percent of respondents considered the library smell

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<v Speaker 1>as pleasant. All of the visitors thought it smelled woody,

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<v Speaker 1>while noticed a smokey aroma, reported an earthy scent, and

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<v Speaker 1>forty one percent said they smelled vanilla. Other less frequent

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<v Speaker 1>responses ranged from musty, too pungent, and floral to rancid.

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<v Speaker 1>In another experiment, the study authors analyzed the responses of

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<v Speaker 1>seventy nine visitors to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

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<v Speaker 1>UK to the smell of a historic book from a

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<v Speaker 1>second hand bookstore. To capture the book smell, a piece

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<v Speaker 1>of sterile gauze was soaked in five million leaders of

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<v Speaker 1>an extract of the book odor and placed in an

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<v Speaker 1>unlabeled metal canister screwed shut to prevent visitors from peaking.

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<v Speaker 1>The top three responses when the visitors were prompted to

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<v Speaker 1>describe the smell chocolate, coffee, and old. The team then

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<v Speaker 1>analyzed the volatile organic compounds in the book and the library.

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<v Speaker 1>Most odors are composed of these v o c s,

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<v Speaker 1>which are chemicals that evaporate at low temperatures. VOCs are

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<v Speaker 1>often associated with certain smell types, for example, acetic acid

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<v Speaker 1>smells sour, isoamal acetate smells like bananas. Using the data

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<v Speaker 1>from the chemical analysis and visitors smell descriptions, the researchers

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<v Speaker 1>created the Historic Book Odor Wheel to document an archive

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<v Speaker 1>the historic library smell Main categories such as sweet or

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<v Speaker 1>spicy fill the inner circle of the wheel. Descriptors such

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<v Speaker 1>as caramel or biscuits fill the middle, and the chemical

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<v Speaker 1>compounds likely to be the smelly source, like for furral,

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<v Speaker 1>fill the outer circle. The researchers want the Book Odor

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<v Speaker 1>Wheel to be an inter disciplinary tool that untrained noses

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<v Speaker 1>can use to identify smells and the compounds causing them,

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<v Speaker 1>which could address conservators concerns about material composition and degradation,

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<v Speaker 1>inform artifact paper conservation decisions, and benefit olfactory museum experiences.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Shelley Dancy and produced by Tyler.

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