Scents and Sensibility: A Molecular Logic of Olfactory Perception

摘要

New York City is my world. I was born in Brooklyn, the first child of immigrant parents whose education was disrupted by the Nazi invasion of Poland. Although not themselves learned, my parents shared a deep respect for learning. I grew up in a home rich in warmth, but empty of books, art, and music. My early life and education were centered on the streets of Brooklyn. Stickball - baseball with a pink ball and broom handle - and schoolyard basketball were my culture. In stickball, a ball hit the distance to one manhole cover was a single, and four manhole covers, a home run, a Nobel Prize. My father was a tailor. My mother, although quick and incisive, did not direct her mind to intellectual pursuits and I had not even the remotest thought of a career in academia. I was happy on the courts. In those days, we worked at a relatively young age. At eleven, I was a messenger, delivering false teeth to dentists. At twelve, I was laying carpets, and at thirteen, I was serving corned beef and pastrami in a local delicatessen. Vladimir, the Russian chef, was the first to expose me to Shakespeare, which he recited as we sliced cabbage heads for coleslaw.