How apt that I reflect on reading Sarah Everts’ The Joy of Sweat as Britain broils in a mini heatwave, my fan whirrs away and I am ever poised to dab droplets from my forehead.

The central paradox that the author unpicks is how so many of us are embarrassed by this natural moisture and its smell, and yet hordes of us pay to break a sweat while in gyms and yoga studios, for example, or chase ‘runner’s high’ as we beat the pavement.

There is even a market for pseudo sweat, catering for anyone from forensic scientists to clothing manufacturers keen to ensure their dyes don’t run thanks to human perspiration.

In the introduction, medical historian Michael Stolberg also notes how sweat is associated with purification, sexual attraction and masculinity. “That’s a lot of emotional baggage for one bodily fluid to carry,” Everts quips.