Definition: Nose

A newborn's first awareness of the world comes through its sense of smell. To smell something is to remember it for a lifetime. Who has not leaned over a rose to take in its delicate fragrance?

We wear perfume to communicate, seduce and attract attention, because our sense of smell is directly connected to the brain. Our noses contain olfactory sensory cells that capture odour molecules and send them directly to the cerebral cortex. Smelling is remembering, being moved, falling in love, getting irritated. Thus, we say of a person we dislike, "I can't stand the sight of them, I can't smell them!"