Uncle Tungsten: Memoirs of a Chemical Boyhood.Oliver Sacks. Uncle Tungsten tungsten (tŭng`stən) [Swed.,=heavy stone], metallic chemical element; symbol W; at. no. 74; at. wt. 183.85; m.p. about 3,410°C;; b.p. 5,660°C;; sp. gr. 19.3 at 20°C;; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. : Memoirs of a Chemical Boyhood. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Vintage, 2002. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist Neurologist A doctor who specializes in disorders of the brain and central nervous system. Mentioned in: Cervical Disk Disease neurologist a specialist in neurology. and the author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, grew up among relatives who esteemed science. One of them, Uncle David, had a large mineralogy mineralogy Scientific study of minerals, including their physical properties, chemical composition, internal crystal structure, occurrence and distribution in nature, and origins or conditions of formation. collection, a chemistry laboratory, and a particular fondness for investigating the properties of tungsten--Sacks called him "Uncle Tungsten." He also had an "Uncle Tin," a "physics uncle," and a "botany botany, science devoted to the study of plants. Botany, microbiology, and zoology together compose the science of biology. Humanity's earliest concern with plants was with their practical uses, i.e., for fuel, clothing, shelter, and, particularly, food and drugs. aunt." During Sacks' adolescence, these unique individuals helped develop his strong and lasting interest in chemistry. An examination of that interest, and an amalgam of fascinating human stories (which is a trademark of Oliver Sacks' books), makes Uncle Tungsten a delightful read. The author, as a twelve-year-old, had a particular affinity for the periodic table of the elements--"Seeing the table, 'getting it,' altered my life. I took to viewing it as often as I could. I copied it into my exercise book and carried it everywhere; I got to know it so well--visually and conceptually--that I could mentally trace its paths in every direction, going up a group, then turning right on a period, stopping, going down one, yet always knowing where I was. It was like a garden, the garden of numbers I had loved as a child--but unlike this, it was real, a key to the universe. I spent hours now, enchanted en·chant tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants 1. To cast a spell over; bewitch. 2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. , totally absorbed, wondering, making discoveries, in the enchanted garden of Mendeleev." Sacks also had great admiration for his father, a physician--"I sometimes went along with my father on house calls on Sunday mornings Sunday Morning may refer to:
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