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Uncle Tungsten

Memories of a Chemical Boyhood

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Uncle Tungsten

By: Oliver Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
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About this listen

Uncle Tungsten radiates all the delight and wonder of a boy’s adventures, and is an unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary young mind.

Oliver Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who found solace in his passion for learning.

‘If you did not think that gallium and iridium could move you, this superb book will change your mind’ – The Times

 Brain & Nervous System Medical Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Physical Illness & Disease Professionals & Academics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health England

Critic reviews

This book is both a heartwarming account of a delightful, eccentric family life and an inspiring record of a remarkable intellectual odyssey.
The amalgamation of personal recollection and scientific history makes a luminous, inspiring book.
Uncle Tungsten is really about the raw joy of scientific understanding; what it is like to be a precocious child discovering the alchemical secrets of reality for the first time: the sheer thrill of finding intelligible patterns in nature.
All stars
Most relevant
A few mispronoutiations, but well compensated by the memories it brought back of my days learning fun chemistry.

It's Chemical

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If you needed any confirmation that the author was neurodivergent, this was it. Although anecdotes from his early life were interesting, the prolonged discussions about the elements on the periodic table and their qualities would only be exciting for those for whom this is their area of interest or expertise. The author was English yet the narrator was American: a bad choice in my view.

Incredibly Boring but good for getting to sleep

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