A tour of the senses : how your brain interprets the world / John M. Henshaw.

Ever wonder why some people have difficulty recognizing faces or why food found delicious in one culture is reviled in another? The author ponders these and other surprising facts in this book. From when stimuli first excite our senses to the near-miraculous sense organs themselves to the mystery of how our brain interprets senses, he explains the complex phenomena of how we see, feel, taste, touch, and smell. He takes us through the history of sensory perception, dating back to Aristotle's classification of the five main senses, and helps us understand the science and technology behind sensory research today. Traveling beyond our human senses, he describes artificial sensing technologies and instruments, unusual sensory abilities of the animal kingdom, and techniques for improving, rehabilitating, and even replacing sense organs.

This introduction to sensory science is a mix of research findings and real-world stories that helps us understand the complex processes that turn sensory stimuli into sophisticated brain responses.

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.

272 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-263) and index.

Stimulus : Electromagnetic stimuli ; Chemical stimuli ; Mechanical stimuli ; The science of sensation -- Sensation : Vision ; The chemical senses ; The mechanical senses -- Perception : Remembering the present ; Perception and culture ; Perception and education.