Meet the Woman Who Is Preserving the Smell of History

We experience our world with five senses to guide us, but for the most part, we learn about the past with only three. We have become adept at preserving our history in audio, visual, and tactile forms, while old recipes can communicate taste, but rarely do we ever think to capture a whiff of the scents that swirl around us.

Luckily, there are scientists who think that stinks, and are doing something about it. Cecilia Bembibre, a doctoral candidate at University College London, is attempting to preserve history like very few before her. She’s cataloging the smells. 

Smells "help us connect to history in a more human way," says Bembibre, whose project combines chemistry, electronic noses, and centuries-old English manor houses.