British scientists have discovered the smell of old books
British scientists have collected the opinions of readers about the aroma of old books and researched the chemical composition of their volatile organic compounds, taking the first step to the creation of the historical books of the smells that details zadokumentirovat information about the different flavors.
Researchers at the Institute for sustainable heritage has asked visitors of the library of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to describe the smell of old books. As a result, the majority of visitors described the aroma of the library as “woody” — this answer was chosen 100% of the visitors. In addition, 86% said this fragrance is smoky, 71% of the earth, yet 41% of readers felt the smell of vanilla, writes Daily Mail.
In another experiment, the researchers invited the visitors of the Art gallery of Birmingham to describe the smell of thousands of books found at a used bookstore in London. The result is one of the most popular to describe the flavor was “chocolate” and “cocoa.” Also was used the word “coffee”, “old”, “tree” and “burning”. Some participants caught the smell of fish, the human body, worn socks and mothballs.
We documented the words used by visitors to describe the smell of books and are ready to start discussions on the development of the dictionary, which would have identified the different flavors that have cultural znachennnya Babybrabbel Institute for sustainable heritage
The scientists also conducted chemical analysis is taken from books in the library of volatile organic compounds which evaporate at low temperatures and can be perceived as odors.
Details of the study, the scientists stated in the article on the Heritage portal Science.
According to experts, the smells should be considered as a part of our cultural heritage, and therefore need to work on their definition, protection and preservation.
The researchers believe that their work can be useful for recreating the smells and the olfactory decoration of exhibitions in the museums to help visitors build a personal connection with the exhibits. In addition, future book smells can help the restorers as a diagnostic tool to obtain information about the state of the object with which they work.