In Verborgen verleider Piet Vroon once again exploits his lucid writing style to combine scientific research with speculative theories. The book is crammed with fascinating hitherto unknown facts. In particular the association of disorders of the sense of smell with serious illnesses is illuminating. According to former beliefs, each disease has its own smell and aromatic substances have a beneficial effect on particular illnesses. Inversely, as the authors now reveal, many diseases have a devastating effect on the sense of smell and a diminished sense of smell can be a first sign of illness.

Most olfactory stimuli remain subconscious; they are ‘secret seducers. The sense of smell is located in that area of the brain where the human will has the least influence. The majority of its connections within the brain are to primitive centres at a lower evolutionary level that control our emotions. As a result, smell has long been considered the sense responsible for lust, desire and passion – what many consider the bestial side of mankind. However the sense of smell is not only essential for the functioning of the sense of taste, it also influences motivation, learning processes and sexual behaviour, in fact, it influences our behaviour in general. Although it’s true that the scientific investigation of smell is still in its infancy, this book’s great achievement is that it places the many blank spaces firmly within a solid overall perspective.