Oliver Sacks

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Revision as of 05:22, 18 April 2008

Biography Oliver Sacks is a practicing neurologist, who is most famous for his books featuring patients' case studies he has encountered throughout his career. He was born July 9, 1933 in London, England. He was brought up among a family of doctors and scientists, his mother was a surgeon and his father was a general practitioner. Oliver followed in his family’s foot steps. He earned his medical degree from Queen’s College at Oxford University. He completed his residencies at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco and at UCLA. Later he moved to New York to begin his practice. He began working as a consulting neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital in New York City. This hospital was the place where he met with many of the people that inspired his books, all beginning with the patients with sleeping sickness, whom he treated with L-Dopa to bring out of their vegetative state. A recount of this was used to make his book Awakenings.

Sacks has been published many times throughout his career. He has received many acknowledgements for his literary achievements including the Lewis Thomas Prize by Rockefeller University, which recognized him as a poet. He is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The New York Times referred to him as “the poet laureate of medicine.” He has written many best selling books; besides his own works, he has greatly participated to neurological literature through his collaborations with and contributions to the works of many other professionals in the field.

Books: Migraine (1970) Awakenings (1973) A Leg to Stand On (1984) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985) Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf (1990) An Anthropologist on Mars (1995) The Island of the Colorblind (1996 Uncle Tungten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (2001) Oaxaca Journal (2002 Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2007)

Honors Oliver Sacks has received many honors throughout his career. He has honorary fellowships to a variety of different organizations. He is a member of many groups (add list). He has received 11 honorary degrees from Universities around the world. In addition he has received many awards for his work. (add lists)

Current Oliver Sacks work has brought him around the world. He has encountered many people of a variety of cultures. However, he continues to reside in New York. He currently holds the position of Professor of Clinical Neurology and Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center. --Jadunn 01:22, 18 April 2008 (EDT)