Mystery of the Senses Mystery of the Senses Mystery of the Senses is a five-part "Nova" miniseries, based on the book "A Natural History of the Senses" by Diane Ackerman, who also presents the documentary. Each episode covers one of the traditional five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. The series premiered on PBS on February 19, 1995. Alan Rich of "Variety" said that "Ackerman has fashioned an absorbing tapestry of media essays on human sensuality". Walter Goodman of "The New York Times" stated that "much of the information ... is fresh", but "the programs meander down dull paths; the scientific material tends
Analogy of the sun region in which truth and real being brightly shine, it understands and knows it and appears to have reason; but when it has nothing to rest on but that which is mingled with darkness—that which becomes and perishes, it opines, it grows dim-sighted, changing opinions up and down, and is like something without reason. ('The Republic, VI: 508d; trans. W. H. D. Rouse) The allusion to "...that which becomes and perishes..." relates to all of that which is perceived by the bodily senses. The bodily senses make it clear that all visible things are subject to change, which Socrates categorizes