The feet of your grandfather, a perfume, or the burnt toast for breakfast have something in common: they all have a smell. These and many other scents are the protagonists of “Oler. Aromas, esencias, hedores y pestilencias” (Smelling. Aromas, essences, odors, and stenches), a book in which Berta Páramo explains the functioning of the sense of smell through illustration, science, and humor.

The title is the first in the collection “Mentes Curiosas, Curiosas Mentes” (Curious Minds, Mindful Curiosity), an initiative by Editorial CSIC and Zahorí Books aimed at bringing scientific knowledge to children and young people in an engaging and rigorous way. That’s why the book has benefited from the advice of neuroscientist Laura López-Mascaraque, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Cajal Institute.

Why do oranges have a smell and sugar doesn’t? What has been the worst smell in history? Are memories associated with smells stronger than those linked to other senses? Starting with questions and curiosities like these, “Oler. Aromas, esencias, hedores y pestilencias” explores the path that leads air molecules to become smells in our brains.

The book has been published in Spanish and Catalan, and will soon be available in Galician and Basque in bookstores. Like in this case, all titles in the collection will be published in the four languages. The next installment will be “Bichos” (Bugs), also written and illustrated by Berta Páramo, which will be released in the early months of 2024.

The series “Mentes Curiosas, Curiosas Mentes” and the book “Oler” will be presented on Monday, November 20, at 18:00 at the CSIC Scientific Bookstore in Madrid (Serrano, 123). The event, free to the public until full capacity is reached, will feature Eloísa del Pino, President of CSIC; Pura Fernández, Deputy Vice President for Scientific Culture and Citizen Science at CSIC and Director of Editorial CSIC; Berta Páramo, and Laura López-Mascaraque.