No fewer than 50 books feature on Oliver Sacks鈥檚 list of favourites. Many,
such as The Periodic Kingdom by Peter Atkins (Perseus Books, 1997), are
about inorganic chemistry, which Sacks says was his 鈥渇irst passion鈥� before he
turned to medicine and neurology. Others on the same theme include The 13th
Element by John Emsley (John Wiley, 2000).
If inorganic chemistry is a passion, physical chemistry, says Sacks, is 鈥渁n
old friend鈥�. Favourites include the Mr Tompkins series of books by
George Gamow (latest edition Cambridge, 1999) and his 鈥渃hemical-stained鈥� CRC
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (CRC Press, 1999). This is no mere
textbook, says Sacks. It鈥檚 鈥渢he best bedside reading I know鈥�.