The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), headquartered in Atlanta, is often in the news because of its mandate to protect the health of the public. These days it is almost impossible...
The short answer is that if you note a scent, some of the chemicals responsible for the aroma are finding their way into your body. Whether or not these are harmful depends on which specific...
Smells of course are caused by volatile compounds which stimulate receptors in our nose. There is a large variety of such compounds with a great diversity of molecular structures. But many of the...
You may believe that essential oils possess curative powers. Many websites praise the numerous healing properties of these concentrated smelly compounds, from the immune-boosting potential of...
The term “aromatherapy” was first coined in 1937 by Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, a French chemist, whose badly burned arm was supposedly miraculously cured by the use of lavender oil. Jean Valnet...
E-readers might be convenient, but they’ll never have that comforting old book smell. It turns out that the smell of old books is due to the organic materials in books (like cellulose from wood...
Bourgeonal is an aromatic aldehyde used in perfumery with a fragrance resembling that of the Lily of the Valley. What’s so special about this fragrance? It is secreted by the ovum within the...
Asparagus is a wonderful vegetable. Both in taste and in its chemistry. One aspect of its chemistry has been apparent for a long time. A French book on food published in 1702 noted that asparagus...
“Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that the winds were love-sick with them,” Shakespeare wrote. Cleopatra is said to have greeted Marc Antony on a boat with perfumed sails after the assassination...
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