The Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use Our Senses is a 2017 book by Carolyn Purnell on Enlightenment-era history of the senses.

The Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use Our Senses
AuthorCarolyn Purnell
SubjectSensory history; The Enlightenment
GenreHistory
PublisherW.W. Norton & Co.
Publication date
February 7, 2017
Pages288
ISBN978-0-393-24937-8
WebsiteThe Sensational Past

The Sensational Past was published by W.W. Norton on February 7, 2017. The 288-page book is organized in ten chapters[1] on different aspects of ideas about sensory experience and the role senses played in social life, culture and science from 1690 to 1830,[2][3] with the focus on interest in bodily sensation serving as a corrective to "modern notions of the Enlightenment as being entirely concerned with rational rigor, logic and the scientific method."[4] Writing in the Wall Street Journal, historian Mark Smith described The Sensational Past as "a brisk, jaunty and at times witty romp through the history of the senses in the long 18th century, filled with entertaining examples."[5]

References

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  1. ^ "THE SENSATIONAL PAST by Carolyn Purnell". Kirkus Reviews. November 23, 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Sensational Past: How the Enlightenment Changed the Way We Use Our Senses by Carolyn Purnell". Publishers Weekly. December 19, 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  3. ^ Hogan, Ron (9 February 2017). "With coffee and cat pianos, how philosophers came to their senses | Books". Dallas News. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  4. ^ Thompson, Bill (December 25, 2016). "Review: 'The Sensational Past' admirably ponders sensory environment". Post and Courier. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  5. ^ Smith, Mark (10 March 2017). "The Stench of Progress". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
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