Oliver Sacks has died

His last op-ed in the NY Times: http://nytimes.com/2015/08/16/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-sa...

"And now, weak, short of breath, my once-firm muscles melted away by cancer, I find my thoughts, increasingly, not on the supernatural or spiritual, but on what is meant by living a good and worthwhile life — achieving a sense of peace within oneself. I find my thoughts drifting to the Sabbath, the day of rest, the seventh day of the week, and perhaps the seventh day of one’s life as well, when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest.”

Sacks was clearly a great doctor in many ways. But he'll probably be better known, and remembered, for popularizing science and medicine in a way that we rarely see: He describes people's symptoms carefully, but also sympathetically. He treats patients using science, which is supposed to be dispassionate, but does so with what's obviously a great deal of care. And he reveals science to us, not as a cold set of rules that govern the world, but as something that provides us with an infinitely large number of wondrous, almost miraculous, combinations of events.

Sacks articulated -- perhaps not explicitly -- that science isn't merely reductionist, cold, logical, and unemotional. He loved learning new things, and was clearly overjoyed to learn, understand, and appreciate the amazing universe in which we live.

It has been many years since I read, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," but I remember loving every page. His later books aren't as famous, but his writing continued to be enchanting and inviting, even when the subjects weren't necessarily my cup of tea.

We in Western societies tend to shut down discussions of death, and what it means. The writing that Sacks produced over the last year have been some of the most poignant, chilling, and inspiring essays that he produced. It's sad that he's gone, but I'm grateful that he shared so much of his work, and his life (and ultimately death) with all of us.

“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.” -- Oliver Sacks

Oliver now gets to take all the elements he borrowed, and that he loved so dearly, and return them back to the stars from which they came. His spirit has dissolved now into it's new form as a complex abstract of memories, ideas, and collective appreciation, where it will now live alongside nature; it's original muse and creator.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/opinion/my-periodic-tab... "Times of stress throughout my life have led me to turn, or return, to the physical sciences, a world where there is no life, but also no death."

It's sad to hear that he died. I just started reading his book, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat". It's an extremely interesting book about the case stories of some of his most interesting patients. The book gives a lot of insight into the lives of patients with the strangest brain dysfunctions, and puts into perspective many of the things we take for granted, such as how we recognize facial expressions, our own body and more. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in neuroscience or even artificial intelligence.

recent radiolab episode http://www.radiolab.org/story/archives-oliver-sacks-table-el...

A great loss, made no less shocking for all its foreshadowing due to his illness. The knowledge he shared through his work and his books have had a lasting impact on my life and the lives of others. Would that we all leave such a legacy.

It is always sad when a person curious about the world dies. He provided me with many stimulating hours of reading and for that I will miss him.

And he could squat 600 lbs, when he was younger of course.

https://media2.wnyc.org/i/620/599/l/80/1/Sacks_Lifting_dr_sq...

That's not a trivial weight.

I am sad he died but I am so glad he'd lived.

His autobiography, which he read on BBC Radio Four, was fascinating. Especially hos description of his addiction to drugs and his recovery.

[1] sadly not still available. It's proba ly around from other sources. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b062jsmz

I liked this little personal piece about his desk/apartment http://sciencefriday.com/video/11/09/2012/desktop-diaries-ol...

He contibuted more to literature, if it can be called that, than to neurology. His writings were akin to the breathless articles in Wired on the "AMAZING DIGITAL FUTURE".

If you want to read real neurology, as opposed to the neurology case studies for the unwashed masses that Sacks churned out, Lord Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System ( now in the 12th edition ) is a classic. http://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780198569381.001...