Uncle Tungsten

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood is a memoir by Oliver Sacks about his childhood published in 2001. The book is named after Sacks's Uncle Dave, whom Oliver nicknamed Uncle Tungsten because he was secretary of a business named Tungstalite,^[1] which made incandescent lightbulbs with a tungsten filament. Uncle Tungsten was fascinated with tungsten and believed it was the metal of the future. According to family members, Oliver used the single nickname, Uncle Tungsten, to refer to a combination of Dave with several other individuals in the same family.

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood

Author	Oliver Sacks
Cover artist	John Gall
Language	English
Genre	Memoir Science
Publisher	Vintage Books
Publication date	2001
Publication place	United States
Pages	317
ISBN	0-375-40448-1
OCLC	46937635
Dewey Decimal	616.8/092 B 21
LC Class	RC339.52.S23 A3 2001
Followed by	Oaxaca Journal (2002)

Sacks' middle name is 'Wolf', and in most European (especially Germanic, Spanish and Slavic) languages, tungsten is named "Wolfram", which is the origin of the chemical symbol W.

The book combines autobiographical elements with a primer in the history and science of chemistry. However, it is not all about his youthful passion for chemistry, but also is eclectic, relating his memories of the catastrophic fire at the Crystal Palace, his terrible experiences of sadism at school, his interest in amateur chemistry, and a passing obsession with coloring his own black-and-white photographs in his home laboratory.

Reception

Upon release, Uncle Tungsten was generally well-received among the British press. ^[2]