Ackerman, Diane - A Natural History of the Senses

The book isn't so much a progressive history of the development of the human senses through evolution or something, which is what I thought when I read the title. Rather, it's a collection of essays roughly centered around a biological/scientific viewpoint of the senses, but with a thoroughly poetic point of view. It's split into six sections -- one for each of the five senses, and the last for synesthesia.

Alas, I have let a little too much time lapse before writing about this, so I can't clearly recall all the essay topics, but they range from assorted things from a general overview on the importance of touch to psychological well-being to recordings of humpback whale song to the wonderfully elusive smell of violets. I love how Ackerman combines scientific knowledge with a poet's sensibility, because in the end, I feel arts and sciences aren't opposites, but rather, complimentary subjects.

I probably learned a great deal of assorted random trivia from this book -- Empress Josephine was enamoured of the smell of violets, and the smell itself is so elusive because it is based on a chemical that basically shuts down our sense of smell after smelling it for a while. But then your sense of smell returns after a bit, so then you smell it again. It may be a little pop-sciencey for people who are very good at the sciences, but it's at just about the right level for me, and I enjoy how Ackerman uses it to make me think more about what I'm feeling and smelling and tasting and viewing. Instead of making these things prosaic by applying scientific knowledge, the added knowledge makes these essays even richer and even more evocative, which is quite a skill in and of itself.

I was very entranced by all the essays, although they may be best appreciated when read in small doses, as I did. Who knows? I feel like somehow Ackerman's essays have made me just that much more aware of the physical world around me and how I process it, and it's made me more appreciative of the sensual, which I am glad of.

Happy birthday, fannishly!

Truly, I haven't forgotten about the "why so-and-so is cool" meme!

Anyhow.

I had you on my flist for quite a while before you started posting, and when you did, they turned out to be such wonderfully articulate posts on the universe and number theory and depression. It is always such a treat to see your posts showing up on my flist to read. And then, through one of those wonderful coincidences of life, I found out that you were from Taiwan and that we already sort of knew each other through the strangest of connections! I've said it time and time again, but it bears repeating: I am so incredibly, incredibly glad that I met you.

I love spending time with you because you are so thoughtful -- you stop and really think about things, from shopping and the fun of clothes to mathematics and philosophy and the Meaning of Life (tm). There are so many people who seem to go through life without ever really thinking, and so it's such a joy to watch your mind work and to see you contemplating what things mean and how they affect you. The way you think about the world makes it into a much larger and glorious place than before, and it's that sense of ineffableness and confusion and grandness that makes me look at things differently. Your posts and your conversations always make me think; they make me dig deeper and go to places I wouldn't normally go without you there. Your influence on people broadens the world, and I can't say just how wonderful that is when there are so many people who just seem to impose limits and make everything more prosaic. Instead, you manage to make the most ordinary of things magical.

I know that sometimes you do wish you were "cooler" and less enthusiastic, but I really love your enthusiasm and your bounciness. Watching you have a good day is such a delight because you somehow know how to express things so that it conveys your joy in the sun or new clothes, so that you manage to make your own happiness infectious and spread it to others. It may sound cliched, but having you around really does make my life just that much brighter and better. And it is impossible to say how wonderful you are as a friend, and I can't possibly thank you enough for all your kindness to me. You've been here through depression and the break up, and somehow you always seem to know just what to say. I feel so very lucky you are here ^_^.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, because you're a wonderful person, and I am so very glad that I've gotten the chance to know you these past few months, because you are so very worth knowing.