Super Senses

A mind-bending, eye-opening scientific exploration of our senses - all 32 of them.

How do you sniff out danger? What is a sense of direction or a gut instinct? You know about your five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. But recent research has shown that we actually have at least 32. We take our senses for granted, but what would be possible if we properly understood how they all work? 

Award-winning science writer Emma Young has spent over a decade finding out, and in Super Senses she takes us on an exhilarating sensory journey, revealing how we taste things without using our tongues, why swearing is good for us and why both chocolate and rollercoasters can help you fall in love.

Using the very latest cutting-edge research, she explains the exploits of record-breaking freedivers, whirling dervishes, super-tasters, stock market millionaires and many more. Discover how touch can ease pain, how taking your pulse can make you fitter and why Abba's Dancing Queen sounds different in Bolivia. 

Sharing surprising secrets from blind ballerinas, voodoo priests and even a nurse who can smell Parkinson's disease before it is diagnosed, Super Senses uncovers the science behind these abilities that make us human - and offers fascinating lessons in how we can all learn to use them better. Could being more sensitive make us happier, healthier - or even wealthier?