Oliver Sacks, (born July 9, 1933, London, Eng.—died Aug. 30, 2015, New York, N.Y., U.S.), British neurologist and writer. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1960 to study neurology at the University of California, and in 1965 he joined the faculty at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he remained until 2007. He also held posts at various other institutions. Many of his books relate case histories of neurologically damaged people. His empathy with those afflicted with strange conditions, including Tourette syndrome, amnesia, and autism, were the hallmark of his writings. His book Awakenings (1973), about the long-term effects of sleeping sickness, was filmed in 1990. Other books include The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986) and An Anthropologist on Mars (1995). Among his autobiographical works were Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (2001), Oaxaca Journal (2002), and On the Move (2015). In addition to receiving a Guggenheim fellowship (1989), Sacks was made CBE in 2008.
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