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Oliver Wolf Sacks

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood Hardcover – 1 Oct. 2001

by Oliver W. Sacks (Author)

4.5 480 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Oliver Sacks' memoirs

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Long before Oliver Sacks became a distinguished neurologist and bestselling writer, he was a small English boy fascinated by metals-also by chemical reactions (the louder and smellier the better), photography, squids and cuttlefish, H.G. Wells, and the periodic table. In this endlessly charming and eloquent memoir, the author chronicles his love affair with science and the magnificently odd and sometimes harrowing childhood in which that love affair unfolded. In Uncle Tungsten we meet Sacks' extraordinary family, from his surgeon mother, who introduces the fourteen-year-old Oliver to the art of human dissection, and his father, a family doctor who imbues in his son an early enthusiasm for housecalls, to his "Uncle Tungsten," whose factory produces tungsten-filament light bulbs. We follow the young Oliver as he is exiled at the age of six to a grim, sadistic boarding school to escape the London Blitz, and later watch as he sets about passionately reliving the exploits of his chemical heroes, in his own home laboratory. Uncle Tungsten is a crystalline view of a brilliant young mind springing to life, a story of growing up which is by turns elegiac, comic, and wistful, full of the electrifying joy of discovery.A memoir of the scientific wonder of youth by the distinguished neurologist and author describes his fascination with metals, gasses, and chemicals, and with unravelling the complex mysteries of the world around him.

Book 1 of 2

Oliver Sacks' memoirs
Print length

337 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Alfred a Knopf Inc
Publication date

1 Oct. 2001
Dimensions

14.58 x 3.1 x 21.95 cm
ISBN-10

0375404481
ISBN-13

978-0375404481
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Product description

About the Author

Oliver Sacks is the author of Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and many other books, for which he has received numerous awards, including the Hawthornden Prize, a Polk Award, and a Guggenheim fellowship. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and lives in New York City, where he is a practicing neurologist.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Alfred a Knopf Inc (1 Oct. 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375404481
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375404481
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.58 x 3.1 x 21.95 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 546,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,246 in Scientist Biographies

Customer reviews:
4.5 480 ratings

About the author

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Oliver Wolf Sacks

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Oliver Sacks was born in 1933 in London and was educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He completed his medical training at San Francisco's Mount Zion Hospital and at UCLA before moving to New York, where he soon encountered the patients whom he would write about in his book Awakenings.

Dr Sacks spent almost fifty years working as a neurologist and wrote many books, including The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia, and Hallucinations, about the strange neurological predicaments and conditions of his patients. The New York Times referred to him as 'the poet laureate of medicine', and over the years he received many awards, including honours from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Royal College of Physicians. In 2008, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire. His memoir, On the Move, was published shortly before his death in August 2015.

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Paul Semicolon

Great book - great price - slow delivery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 January 2010

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Great book. Engaging autobiography and also very informative when it comes to chemistry. The closest I've come to understanding quantum physics was while reading this book, as he explains the history of how the understanding of elements and atoms developed over time.

Also, this was a 2nd-hand hardback copy sent over from the USA, which I had bought as a gift, having read it myself a few years back. I was struck by how much better quality the US version was, compared to the UK hardback version I had bought for myself. I'm told by a retired publisher that this is normal, and is a result of the economics of larger print runs enabling more money to be spent on design. The paper was better quality and the print, although slightly smaller, was sharper and eaier to read.

The down-side to getting it from the States though - apart from different spelligns of course - is that it took 3 weeks to arrive. They did say that's how long it could take so I can't complain, and I would definitly consider buying books from the States again.

6 people found this helpful

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Martin H. King

This is a wonderful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2014

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In this childhood autobiography Oliver Sachs revisits his childhood growing up in a North London Jewish family the son of two G.P. parents.
Young Oliver had an extended family full of many unusual characters including the eponomous "uncle tungsten" - his Uncle who ran a light bulb manufacturing plant, and was a mine of information about chemistry. another uncle was a Physicist and introduced Oliver to many of the wonders of science and nature.
The book traces the historical origins of Chemistry, interwoven with Olivers own discovery of Science set against a background of impending war in Europe in the late 1930's.
Oliver Sachs eventually went on the become a "celebrity" Neurologist & author in the U.S. but it is clear from this book that he retains many profoundly moving and exciting memories of a childhood in Britain learning the wonders of Chemistry.

3 people found this helpful

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J. Marriage

I wish I'd had an Uncle Tungsten!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2013

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Oliver Sacks is a really good writer, and here again he shows what he can do. A fascinating and privileged childhood despite some parts (boarding school) which were far from. His family was clearly wonderful, gifted, and willing to devote a lot of time to the young Oliver. His enthusiasm for chemistry as a lad mirrors my own; but his dedicated pursuit by far surpasses mine, and the fact that the family could afford to set him up with his own lab reminds me of Charles Darwin rather than either myself of my childhood friends. For anyone with an interest in chemistry, or just an interest in how a boy destined to be a real original thinker and therapist was raised, this is highly recommended.

3 people found this helpful

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Mr. J. A. Nisbet

A remarkable person

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 June 2021

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A remarkable person from a remarkable family-I had no idea Great stuff, simply charming

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Paul Gibson

A superbly written book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2017

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I really enjoyed this book, the wonder and passion that inspired this great man was truly enchanting, captivating and infectious. The tales of his boyhood, the wonderment, thrill and sanctuary that chemistry bought to this highly intelligent, yet at times vulnerable young man, superbly written, a great read for anyone interested in the author, science, chemistry and physics, it's development and milestones.

3 people found this helpful

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Sue Shepherd

Brilliant book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 February 2017

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The book was in perfect condition and arrived very quickly after my order was placed!
I think this is a brilliant book having read it on Audible a year ago... Now I have it in print I can read all the additional notes to the story.
Oliver sacks was an amazing man.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2014

Verified Purchase

To follow the burning enthusiasm of a small boy is most touching. The progress of Chemistry alongside his own growth as a thinker is exciting and touching. I am not a chemist, but this has not spoilt my delight in his enjoyment . I have still 30 % to read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 June 2013

Verified Purchase

I chose this rating becouse I loved the content. The information and most particularly the way it is presented.
I would certenally advise it for a student (undergrad or even grad) as a "companion" book.
It would have been fantastic to have more illustrations and photographs inside.

2 people found this helpful

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Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood Hardcover – 1 Oct. 2001

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Oliver Wolf Sacks

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