Oliver Sacks

Carl Djerassi
1933-2015

Photo credit: Hailey Wojcik
March 8, 2011

Volume 5 of the Chemical Demonstrations book series was co-dedicated
to Oliver Sacks.

The dedication reads:

To Oliver Sacks,
a chemist at heart,
for making me aware
of the complexity of memory, emotions,
and the brain,
and helping me to
understand myself
and to explain
our beautiful chemical world.

Bassam Z. Shakhashiri

A Friend Has Left Us
Chemical & Engineering News
September 7, 2015

On the Occasion of His 80th Birthday

Mercury Beating Heart: Oliver Sacks 80th Birthday Video

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
PBS American Masters


Photo credit: Hailey Wojcik March 8, 2011
Booklet for the Roald Hoffmann Symposium at which Oliver was a speaker.	List of speakers for the Roald Hoffmann Symposium	Detail of Oliver's talk at the Roald Hoffmann Symposium
Oliver speaking at the Roald Hoffmann Symposium Photo credit: Robert Lichter	Oliver speaking at the Roald Hoffmann Symposium Photo credit: Robert Lichter	Oliver speaking at the Roald Hoffmann Symposium Photo credit: Robert Lichter
Symposium speakers gathered with Roald. Photo credit: Robert Lichter	Symposium speakers at dinner with Roald.	In 2004, Bassam organized a Science, Arts and the Humanities symposium at the ACS fall national meeting in Philadelphia. Dava Sobel, who was scheduled to speak, had travel difficulties and couldn't make it. Oliver accepted Bassam's last-second invite to speak. The night before the scheduled symposium, he sketched out his remarks on a piece of paper during a converstion with Bassam, who saved it. It is displayed below:
Symposium at the ACS Fall National Meeting in Philadelphia Sunday, August 22, 2004	Detail of Oliver's sketch	Oliver's entire sketch


• • • Obituaries • • •
The Talk of the Town: Postscript The New Yorker September 14, 2015 Uncle Tungsten's nephew Chemistry World September 8, 2015 New York Times Obituary August 30, 2015 Oliver Sacks dies in New York aged 82 BBC News August 30, 2015
• • • Articles • • •
The Early Loves of Oliver Sacks: Medicine, Muscles and Motorbikes, The New York Times November 4, 2024
Getting to know neurologist Oliver Sacks, Chemical & Engineering News April 3, 2021
The Life and Legacy of Oliver Sacks: A Panel Discussion March 30, 2021
Kate Edgar and Atul Gawande on Oliver Sacks, Science on Screen 2020 In this Q&A moderated by award-winning scientist, author, educator, and film producer Sean B. Carroll, Sacks's longtime editor Kate Edgar and renowned surgeon, writer, and public health leader Atul Gawande discuss the life and legacy of the legendary neurologist and storyteller.
Oliver Sacks’s Final, Posthumous Work, The New York Times May 1, 2019
Oliver Sacks: The Healing Power of Gardens, The New York Times April 18, 2019
A Review of Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales, The Scientist April 1, 2019
Kickstarter campaign launched for feature film 'The Animated Mind of Oliver Sacks' June, 2018
Oliver Sacks, A Composer and His Last Work The New York Times October 24, 2017
Oliver Sacks, Casting Light on the Interconnectedness of Life, The New York Times August 30, 2015
Oliver Sacks: Sabbath, The New York Times August 14, 2015
Oliver Sacks: My Periodic Table, The New York Times July 24, 2015
A General Feeling of Disorder, The New York Review of Books April 23, 2015
My Own Life: Oliver Sacks on Learning He Has Terminal Cancer, The New York Times February 19, 2015
The Joy of Chemistry, Chemical & Engineering News July 8, 2013
The Joy of Old Age. (No Kidding.), The New York Times July 6, 2013
Wednesday, April 17 - Sunday, April 21, 2013 Live Ideas: The Worlds of Oliver Sacks View Bassam's PowerPoint Slides (PDF) View Bassam's video shown at the presentation
Hallucinations with Oliver Sacks, World Science Festival (video) July 1, 2009
"Awakenings" author speaks at convocation, The Badger Herald September 5, 2001
News in Brief On Campus: Oliver Sacks: House calls at the edge of the mind, UW News August 28, 2001

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