WEBVTT - FunStuff Playlist 07: Why Do Books Smell So Good?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren boke 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 i respondents considered the library smell as pleasant.

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<v Speaker 1>All of the visitors thought it smelled woody, while noticed

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<v Speaker 1>a smokey aroma, reported an earthy scent, and forty one

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<v Speaker 1>percent said they smelled vanilla. Other less frequent responses ranged

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<v Speaker 1>from musty, too pungent, and floral to rancid. In another experiment,

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<v Speaker 1>the study authors analyzed the responses of seventy nine visitors

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<v Speaker 1>to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery UK to the

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<v Speaker 1>smell of a historic book from a second hand bookstore.

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<v Speaker 1>To capture the book smell, a piece of sterile gauze

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<v Speaker 1>was soaked in five million leaders of an extract of

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<v Speaker 1>the book odor and placed in an unlabeled metal canister

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<v Speaker 1>screwed shut to prevent visitors from peaking. The top three

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<v Speaker 1>responses when the visitors were prompted to describe the smell chocolate, coffee,

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<v Speaker 1>and old. The team then analyzed the volatile organic compounds

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<v Speaker 1>in the book and the library. Most odors are composed

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<v Speaker 1>of these v o c s, which are chemicals that

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<v Speaker 1>evaporate at low temperatures. VOCs are often associated with certain

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<v Speaker 1>smell types, for example, acetic acid smells sour, isoamal acetate

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<v Speaker 1>smells like bananas. Using the data from the chemical analysis

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<v Speaker 1>and visitors smell descriptions, the researchers created the Historic Book

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<v Speaker 1>Odor Wheel to document an archive the historic library smell.

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<v Speaker 1>Main categories such as sweet or spicy fill the inner

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<v Speaker 1>circle of the wheel. Descriptors such as caramel or biscuits

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<v Speaker 1>fill the middle, and the chemical compounds likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>the smelly source, like for furral, fill the outer circle.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers want the Book Odor Wheel to be an

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<v Speaker 1>inter disciplinary tool that untrained noses can use to identify

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<v Speaker 1>smells and the compounds causing them, which could address conservators

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<v Speaker 1>concerns about material composition and degradation, inform artifact paper conservation decisions,

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<v Speaker 1>and benefit olfactory museum experiences. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Shelley Dancy and produced by Tyler. Playing brain Stuff has

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other evocative topics, visit

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