Rosemary F. (canadianeh) reviewed on 2/12/2010 + 242 more book reviews

Sacks describes how his experiences as a boy were twined around a fascination with chemistry. His family members were deeply involved in science and his parents evem encouraged him to set up his own lab and recreate famous experiments - as well as his own. This book is full of the wonder of a child at the vivid world he discovered in his own magic garden. Along the way we learn a lot about the history of chemistry and discoveries. This isn't like any other autobiography I've read. It's not so much about the events and people in his world (although they are there) as about the workings of a young mind. I wish he had included more about how the inner illumination of a child's curiosity and rapture is transmuted at puberty, but his recounting of it is full of wonder.

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