Abstract
Everything we know about the world around us comes through our various sensory systems. Aristotle named five of these in human beings and for the last 2500 years that number has stuck. Even though it's not true. The classic five senses of Aristotle are vision, smell, taste, touch and hearing. We can add many others to these, either as subsets, or even as completely different senses. For example there is proprioception, the sense of your body's position in space, there is the vestibular system which tells you where your head is and in which way you pointed; touch should also include the thermal sensors for temperature and our multiple pain systems for acute, chronic, throbbing, aching, etc. types of pain. And the chemical senses, taste and smell, are in reality a group of multiple sensory systems capable of detecting and discriminating a wide variety of chemical structures and qualities.
Highlights
Everything we know about the world around us comes through our various sensory systems
Firestein has been elected as a fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his meritorious efforts to advance science
More information about Stuart including his interesting early age/career can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_firestein_the_pursuit_of_ignorance and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Firestein
Summary
Professor Stuart Firestein, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Everything we know about the world around us comes through our various sensory systems. The classic five senses of Aristotle are vision, smell, taste, touch and hearing. We can add many others to these, either as subsets, or even as completely different senses.
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