Sacks, Oliver W

Neurologist and storyteller Oliver Sacks recalls his childhood fascination for numbers, metals, and natural patterns, and tells how he was encouraged by his Uncle Dave, a lightbulb manufacturer known as "Uncle Tungsten," to investigate the mysteries of chemistry.

Oliver Sacks explores the power of music in the lives of ordinary people, as well as individuals with neurological and other conditions.

Explores neurological disorders and their effects upon the minds and lives of those affected.

Presents the histories of neurological patients whose departure from normalcy brings a new perspective to their individual worlds.

Examines the world of deafness, including the unique world of those who use sign language and how it differs from "hearing" communication.

Explores neurological disorders and their effects upon the minds and lives of those affected.

An investigation into the types, physiological sources, and cultural resonances of hallucinations; traces everything from the disorientations of sleep and intoxication to the manifestations of injury and illness.

Just after the first World War, there was a great encephalitis (sleeping sickness) epidemic. Those affected were alive, but only barely so. They simply existed with no emotion, expression or humanity. The rigidity in facial expression and movement was similar to Parkinson's Disease and so these symptoms were called Parkinsonism. But in 1969 this changed. With injections of a remarkable new "awakening" drug, Laevodihydroxy-phenylalanine, or L-DOPA by Dr. Oliver Sacks, these patients came alive. First published in 1973, the events in this book are still riveting to scientists as well as others who are interested in the workings of the brain.

Explores neurological disorders and their effects upon the minds and lives of those affected.