Elixir: A Story of Perfume, Science and the Search for the Secret of Life by Theresa Levitt Basic Books, 320 pages, £20
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The quest for rejuvenation has a tortuous history. Two thousand years ago, Maria the Jewess introduced distillation to produce an alchemical elixir of life, while WB Yeats later boasted that a vasectomy granted him a youthful surge of creativity. Napoleon swore by the regenerative virtues of perfume, diluted as a drink or to bathe in, and got through around 60 bottles a month.