Like the ever increasing number of sexes we suddenly recognize, there are more senses than we traditionally credit. Balance, for example, is definitely a sense. And it is part and parcel of our hearing mechanism. Pain is another. And there are combinations of traditional senses – how smell affects taste, for one. Our Senses is an attempt to cover them all in a survey of research. The result is not totally satisfying.

Rob DeSalle has pulled together a lot of great stories, examples and theories. (Nature has evolved 25 completely different kinds of sight mechanisms, original designs adapted to the needs of different species.) But he has also focused (too much) on DNA and specific genes, whose letter/number codes are instantly forgettable and of little use to the average child reader. This book is the accompaniment to the exhibit of the same name and design at The American Natural History Museum in New York. As such, it is really a museum gift shop book. It is not a catalog of the exhibit, but an expansion of greater depth.

The problem is like that of all-season tires – wrong for summer and also wrong for winter. There is both not enough detail and also too much. Intriguing paths end suddenly. Highly technical knowledge is displayed without insight. It’s a problem of the pairing of museum and book, not of the author Rob DeSalle, who is not merely expert, but clearheaded, thoughtful and most enthusiastic. If you see the exhibit, this is a great reminder.

David Wineberg ( )