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My old English teacher used to quip that the better the book smells, the worse the book is. I imagine that much of the old book smell (at least in a school libr
by snazz 8y ago
My old English teacher used to quip that the better the book smells, the worse the book is. I imagine that much of the old book smell (at least in a school library) comes from the many fingers that have thumbed through the book. Then again, old books in pristine condition still exude the “old book smell” (I got a 1970s-era book on compilers from the library for free in perfect condition that still smells “old”).
I’m impressed that they were able to figure out specific compounds. How would you even get started figuring out which compounds are coming from a book?
- leereeves 8y ago> How would you even get started figuring out which compounds are coming from a book? I'm not a chemist, and this is just a guess, but perhaps by placing the book in a vacuum, waiting for it to outgas a bit, then analyzing the resulting "air".
- mallomarmeasle 8y agoYes, something along these lines. Its called "headspace' analysis. The volatile components that come off are typically checked with GC/MS.
- snazz 8y agoThat sounds reasonable. The more I think about it, the more I think that they probably already had guessed which compounds might be present, and simply performed a variety of tests on the gas to determine if those compounds were present.
- gubbrora 8y agoOne way could be spectroscopy