Rating: 
Summary: Joy, curiosity, light
Review: Oliver Sacks' memoir is shining, enlivened by curiosity, filled with joy. He has recaptured the boy he was, and "Uncle Tungsten" lets us experience the world as that boy knew it. My husband is a cloud physicist, and reading this book helped me see how he became entranced by science, by the wonders of the physical world, metamorphosing even as we look upon it.Born in l933, well before television cartoons and video games, Sacks was left to his own devices. His broad intelligence led him down many roads, and his tolerant parents indulged his love for explorations in chemistry. During WW II, when he was six years old, he was evacuated from London home to a country boarding school, where the headmaster inflicted physical and emotional abuse upon his young charges. The trauma Sack underwent there, in addition to the horrors visited upon England by the war, caused him to lose faith in the omnipotent God of his Jewish tradition. His new faith became science, and he brought to it all the passion and dedication of his orthodox forebears. In adolescence, sadly, he lost this flaming enthusiam, much as many teenagers "lose their faith"; and he turned to the conventional medical career his parents envisioned for him. Now, in late mid-life, his spiritual journey has brought him full circle to his early love again. His joy in scientific enquiry will ignite a similar joy in the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Joy, curiosity, light
Review: Oliver Sacks' memoir is shining, enlivened by curiosity, filled with joy. He has recaptured the boy he was, and "Uncle Tungsten" lets us experience the world as that boy knew it. My husband is a cloud physicist, and reading this book helped me see how he became entranced by science, by the wonders of the physical world, metamorphosing even as we look upon it. Born in l933, well before television cartoons and video games, Sacks was left to his own devices. His broad intelligence led him down many roads, and his tolerant parents indulged his love for explorations in chemistry. During WW II, when he was six years old, he was evacuated from London home to a country boarding school, where the headmaster inflicted physical and emotional abuse upon his young charges. The trauma Sack underwent there, in addition to the horrors visited upon England by the war, caused him to lose faith in the omnipotent God of his Jewish tradition. His new faith became science, and he brought to it all the passion and dedication of his orthodox forebears. In adolescence, sadly, he lost this flaming enthusiam, much as many teenagers "lose their faith"; and he turned to the conventional medical career his parents envisioned for him. Now, in late mid-life, his spiritual journey has brought him full circle to his early love again. His joy in scientific enquiry will ignite a similar joy in the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Oliver Sacks strikes again
Review: Oliver Sacks, a neurologist, is one of a very rare breed: a physician who a) has a big and generous heart, b) can write and can write very, very well, c) has compassion, d) has a quirky but quiet sense of humor. Witness: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Has ever a book title been created that can top that for sheer wackiness? Sounds more like a Dr. Seuss book than something written by such an eminent guy as Sachs.
In Uncle Tungsten, Sacks has written a memoir of his wartime childhood in England and his early fascination with science, a love fostered by an extended household full of learned and curious adults. The seeds of Sacks' lifelong fascination with the depths of weird psychoses were doubtless sewn by his older brother's mental illness.
For Sacks' fans, this book is essential for understanding the origin of the man. For those new to Sacks, this is a good place to begin your love affair with his books. For all others, read it anyway. It's terrific.
Rating:
Summary: Rediscover the curious child in you!
Review: Oliver Sacks, best known for writing about the fantastic consequences of neurological abnormalities (Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat), takes us on a journey through his childhood in Uncle Tungsten. Deftly mixing the most intriguing aspects of the history of chemistry with his own experiences as a boy and adding the spark of a unique writing ability, he's utilized the principles of chemical lab work to produce something new and different--a book that revels in the most fundamental aspects of exploring the physical sciences. Sacks was fortunate to be born into a family heavily composed of scientists: physicians, chemists, physicists, and metallurgists, like his "Uncle Tungsten." Both of his parents were physicians and indulged his curiousities by allowing him to set up his own lab in their house, where he familiarized himself with the history of chemistry by recreating many famous experiments and also trying many more of his own devising. Descriptions of his family life and his exploration into science are filled with wonder and with love for the world we live in. Uncle Tungsten is a book to relish--written in everyday language, not in stuffy scientific terms--a book filled with the joy of youth, the fascination of discovery, and the wonderment of life. I would recommend it to anyone interested in science and nature, to anyone trying to understand those around them who love science so much, and to anyone in junior high or high school who wonders why they have to study chemistry!
Rating: 
Summary: Wish I'd bought it!
Review: Once in 10th grade, I fell onto the floor in chemistry class after falling asleep in my chair. In other words, I have the scientific bent of wallpaper. Oliver Sacks' marvelous explanations and anecdotes about the development of chemistry would have kept me awake. About 65% of the book is composed of such material. It is fascinating (with a few exceptions)and I found myself understanding more science in these 300 or so pages than I picked up in all of high school. Into this mix, Dr. Sacks seamlessly weaves stories of his own childhood. To me, these stories were the highlights of the book. Especially riveting are the stories of his "exile" to boarding school, sent away from London for his own safety at the height of WWII and, even better, his stories about his boyhood obsession with chemistry. As a child, he created everything from flaming compounds to noxious clouds which sent him fleeing outside and which filled his parents' home with toxic gases. Then, there's the highly entertaining exploding cuttlefish incident which rendered a friend's home uninhabitable for months. And I never grew tired of reading about his parents. Both renowned physicians, they were amazingly tolerant of their son's explosions and "stinkogens," but could be surprisingly obtuse when it came to his emotions. One such incident which totally took me aback was his mother's arranging for him to perform an autopsy at age 14 (to his great and understandable dismay). You'll meet more of this eclectic family -- uncles who were metals experts and pioneers in their fields, an aunt who -- appearing perfect to the outside world -- was wont to blow her nose on the tablecloth in the privacy of her home and many other memorable characters. Perhaps it's just my preference, but I would have preferred more of these stories and a bit less science, even though the pure science part was enlightening, if a bit dry at times. (If you like the human interest angle, as I do, Sacks includes many fascinating and well-written portraits of historic scientific personalities.) One question I always have is: to buy or to borrow. I borrowed this book from the library, but I wish I'd bought it. I ended up taking copious notes on the science parts, hoping to be able to refer back to this new education and also copying down many of the marvelous family stories so I could continue to enjoy Dr. Sacks' lively choice of words. One of the few times I regret the decision not to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Sacks Documents that Sense of Awe
Review: One subtitle of this book could be "an intellectual memoir." "Uncle Tungsten" is not only a recounting of Sacks' interesting life in a scientific family, it is very much a recounting of his life of the mind. Chapters weave Sacks' life at home and at school with accounts of the Curies and Humphry Davies and the creation of the Periodic table. For my money, this fusion does not always work out as well as it might. I am no chemist, having stopped my own scientific studies with high school biology, and some of the chapters on chemistry were tough going for me. In contrast, the chapters detailing Sacks' own amazing life in England before and just after WWII are beautiful-- and I want to know more. If I have any quibble with this book, it is that it is really two books in one. But altogether it is well worth the sometimes extra concentration that it takes to read it.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible window into Oliver Sack's childhood...
Review: Sacks is one of my favorite writers (with the exception of when he writes about ferns rather than people), but I think this is my favorite of all his books, even though it is in some spots uneven. Sacks intertwines his growing interest in chemistry (complete with the fascinating bit-of-science anecdotes that are typical of his work) with the story of his youth in London up to the War. It must have been both a blessing and a curse to grow up in such a family. Such a blessing to have parents that support and revere Sacks' mad-scientist chemistry experiments: when he came close to blowing up the house rather than forbid him to play with such chemicals they bought him a ventilation hood for his 'lab'). But something dark also runs through his story--his parents' strange detachment (his mother had him witness autopsies, if I recall correctly) and his brother's developing schizophrenia. The total effect of all this is that the tone of the story sways from impersonal "here's how such-and-such a chemical makes such-and-such a compound" to a warm evocation of his intellectual and eccentric uncles (his darling Uncle Tungsten), to some of the stranger personal events that stop you short (his brother). In the end I completely forgave Sacks his wandering, because the book seems to replicate precisely how Sacks' mind actually works--one moment completely involved with people, one moment completely involved with science, one moment combining the two in a marvelous combustion that is a hybrid of chemistry and literature. Some day I want to have him to dinner and hear the rest of the story. What a guest he would make!
Rating:
Summary: For those who are scientifically challenged
Review: Since reading "Anthropologist on Mars", I've been enamored of his ability to make science interesting by telling a whacking good story. So I was eager to read "Uncle Tungsten." In addition, it was a NYTimes Notable Book, which means that I can't go wrong (for me). And I was not disappointed. His writing is easy to read and his organization is exactly right. I won't go over all the points raised by the other reviewers. They are exactly right: his childhood and amazing, caring and understanding extended family all contributed to making him the gifted and caring man/physician he is today. And his description of his brother and his problems, which led to his ultimate vocation, was very enlightening. But what tied it all together for me was the careful and insightful research into the related chemical and scientific histories and biographies of his "chemical" heroes. Who would have thought that how the layout of the table of elements came to be would so fascinating? This book should be required reading for every young student. Who wouldn't want to become a scientist after reading this? Finally, don't ya'll feel sorry for young students now that most of the wonderful experiments Oliver carried out when still a young boy can't be done until one is probably in college, graduate school or on the job if at all?
Rating:
Summary: Best Science Book Ever
Review: The best science book I have ever read. Great ideas on how to teach science and a great resource for science history. A must have for any science educator.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: There are several authors that occupy the front of my reading list and Oliver Sacks is one of these. I have never been disappointed by anything he has written and I have seen his writing style change and grow into something truly wonderful. This book is no exception. It is an exceptional author who communicates not only his thoughts, words and ideas, but his voice as well. I heard an interview with Dr. Sacks several years ago and while reading Uncle Tungsten, I kept hearing this very careful and precise English accent, which added to the wonder of this exceptional book. Dr. Sacks carefully weaves the history of his family and his own experiences growing up after World War II, with his fascination with the world around him and the history of chemistry. The product is one of the best science histories I have yet to read. I wrestled with chemistry in high school. I finally gave up. If I had Dr. Sack's book, the outcome would have been different.
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