
Scents and Sensibility
Monday, February 23, 2009
Purchase College partners with the New York Academy of Sciences and Science & the City to bring public science events to Westchester County in 2009!
On Monday, February 23, 2009, at 7:00 pm, the first event in this semester-long series features world-renowned olfactory experts Avery Gilbert and Stuart Firestein illuminating the cultural history of scent and the science of smell.
How does a particular scent conjure a memory? How does the brain interpret olfactory signals for food, danger, or potential mating partners? Columbia University Professor Stuart Firestein joins fragrance industry expert and author Avery Gilbert for a stimulating conversation on scent and the science of smell.
Avery Gilbert is the author of What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life, published in June 2008. He has conducted research on human odor perception in academic laboratories and in the R&D divisions of multinational perfume companies.
Stuart Firestein is a professor of biological sciences at Columbia University specializing in the molecular physiology of olfactory transduction. His laboratory explores the interaction of various chemicals, such as neurotransmitters, hormones, and peptides, with membrane receptors regulate the activity of all cells in the nervous system.
A booksigning will follow the lecture.