Research Catalog

Title

Mystic chemist : the life of Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD / Dieter Hagenbach and Lucius Werthmuller ; foreword by Stanislav Grof.

Author

Hagenbach, Dieter A.

Publication

Santa Fe, New Mexico : Synergetic Press, [2013]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Werthmüller, Lucius, 1958-
• Grof, Stanislav, 1931-
• Geuss, William
• Sperling, Linda

Description

xxiii, 383 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 26 cm

Summary

"Mystic Chemist begins at the start of the twentieth century, in the Swiss town of Basel which is evolving from a popular health spa into a major industrial city. The story concludes more than a century later, after celebrating Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday. It tells the unique story of a soon to be famous scientist, highlighting his academic journey, his research at Sandoz and then, as the discoverer of LSD, his meetings and interactions with illustrious writers, artists and thinkers, from all over the world, whose common interest is a fascination with the new wonder-drug. Luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert appear on the scene and Hofmann begins a prolific correspondence with them and other interested parties. Sometimes he sends a sample, other times he hears of their 'trips' on LSD or other psychedelic substances, like mescaline or psilocybin. From the beginning he takes a positive view towards efforts by physicians and psychotherapists to include LSD in new approaches to the treatment of illnesses. He sees the 'psychedelic' potential of this 'wonder drug' as beneficial to all. And he expresses his conviction that mystical experiences and trips to other worlds of consciousness are the best preparation for the very last journey he and every one of us well must eventually make. At the age of 102, Albert Hofmann dies at home. His vitality and open mindedness stay with him until his last breath. The life of Albert Hofmann, the Mystic Chemist, is a testimony to how one can reach a great age all the while remaining physically and mentally fit and spiritually aware. ..."-- From the publisher's statement on Amazon.com

Uniform Title

Albert Hofmann und sein LSD. English

Alternative Title

• Albert Hofmann und sein LSD.
• Life of Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD

Subjects

• Biographies
• History
• Chemists > Biography
• LSD (Drug) > History
• Hofmann, Albert, 1906-2008
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
• Chemistry
• Hallucinogens
• Switzerland
• Biography

Genre/Form

• Biography
• Biographies
• History
• Biographies.

Note

• Translation of: Albert Hofmann und sein LSD.
• Translation: William Geuss and Linda Sperling.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-377) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• 1 Industry and Idyll in the Provinces -- The Beginnings of the Modern Era 1 -- From Health Resort to Industrial Town 3 -- Founding a Family 4 -- The Mystical Wonders of Nature 6 -- 2 With a Clear Goal -- Illness and Social Poverty 8 -- A Model Student 11 -- Brighter Horizons 12 -- From Clerk to Chemist 13 -- 3 Call of the Plants -- The Chemistry is Right in Basel 19 -- In the Footsteps of Paracelsus 20 -- Squill and Foxglove 23 -- 4 Marriage and Family Bliss -- Turning Point 27 -- Beginning of an Eternal Love 28 -- War and Peace 30 -- 5 LSD Finds Its Discoverer -- In the Beginning was the Ergot 36 -- The Synthesis 39 -- Potency 41 -- The First Trip 42 -- The Assistant 46 -- 6 The Dose Makes the Poison -- Successful Drugs 48 -- From Phantasticum to Enthaogen 48 -- The Effect of LSD 52 -- Classification of Psychoactive Substances According to Their Effect 56 -- Drugs
• 57 -- 7 Researchers Discover LSD -- Mescaline 58 -- Experiments on Animals 61 -- The First Experiment on Humans 64 -- The Psychotomimetic Paradigm 64 -- A Helpful Tool for Psychotherapy 66 -- Realms of Consciousness 67 -- Trauma Therapy 68 -- LSD Comes to England 69 -- Studies in Saskatchewan 69 -- Behind the Iron Curtain 70 -- LSD Conquers America 70 -- 8 The Search for a Truth Serum -- Dividing the World 73 -- Experiments without Limits 74 -- Understatement 80 -- Iron Silence 80 -- Serious Sweden 81 -- In the Name of the Fatherland 82 -- The Mystery of the Cursed Bread 84 -- 9 Flesh of the Gods -- The Mushrooms Reach Basel 88 -- The Kingdom of Sacred Plants and Mushrooms 88 -- Teonanácatl 90 -- Exploration 91 -- Banker and Mycologist 92 -- The Active Substance 94 -- Psilocybin and Psilocin 94 -- The Magic Vine 99 -- Distrust 101 -- The Magic Circle 103 --
• 104 -- The Mexico Expedition -- In the Land of the Mazatecs 105 -- Ceremony with a Magical Plant 108 -- The Spirit in the Pill 109 -- The Consequences 112 -- 11 Friendships and Encounters -- Family Life 114 -- Circles 117 -- Interweavings 118 -- Hermit in the Crystalline World 119 -- Radiance and Convergent 124 -- Almost a Friendship 126 -- The Networker 129 -- The Coronation 132 -- 12 Metamorphoses at Harvard -- Vision of a New Psychology 135 -- Psychedelic Revelation 137 -- Academic Mushroom Circles 138 -- Liberation Behind Bars 140 -- The Man with the Mayonnaise Jar 141 -- The End of Peace, Joy and Magic Mushrooms 144 -- Millbrook 146 -- Bureaucratic Hurdles 147 -- The Woman from Washington 151 -- Founding Years 152 -- Multimedia Spectacle 153 -- Changes of All Kinds 154 -- Turn on, Tune In, Drop out 155 -- 13 Fuel of the Sixties -- A Molecule Changed the World 158 --
• The Bohemians of Manhattan 160 -- From the Laboratory into the Cuckoo's Nest 160 -- Can You Pass the Acid Test? 161 -- The Hog Farm 163 -- Chemistry in the Underground 163 -- The Trips Festival 164 -- Dionysian Festivals 165 -- Hippies? Hippies! 166 -- A Peaceful Cultural Revolution 167 -- Chemists for a Better World 168 -- Flowers in Their Hair, Love in Their Hearts, LSD in Their Heads 169 -- The Diggers 170 -- Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll 171 -- Sounds of the Sixties 172 -- Acid House, Psytrance, Goa Trance 175 -- The Desert Lives 175 -- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds 178 -- Woodstock 179 -- Hair 181 -- Swinging London 181 -- Trips Around the World 182 -- 14 The Great Repression -- Brotherhood of Eternal Love 185 -- Demonization 187 -- Verdict and Prohibition 188 -- Underground Therapy 190 -- The Empire Strikes Back 191 -- Crime Scene Missile Silo 192 --
• Dedication to Freedom 193 -- Outrage 194 -- 15 Humane Therapies, Transpersonal Visions -- Divine Lightning 197 -- Thirty Years of Research 198 -- Encounter With Death 200 -- The Cartographer 202 -- Expanding of the Image of Humanity 203 -- The Spectrum of Consciousness 204 -- Human Potential 206 -- An Alternative 207 -- Interaction at Esalen 209 -- 16 Spiritual Dimensions -- Mushrooms Instead of Fish 211 -- The Missing Taboo 214 -- Vast Emptiness, Nothing Holy 215 -- Journeys to the East 216 -- In the Here and Now 217 -- Buddhists and Psychedelics 220 -- Ecologist and Buddhist 220 -- Zen Priest and Animal Welfare Advocate 221 -- Instant Nirvana 221 -- Cosmologist of Joy 223 -- Psychosis and Enlightenment 224 -- Tool of the Mind 225 -- 17 Creativity and Art -- Intoxicated Literati 226 -- Bee God and Sacred Mirrors 228 -- A New Dimension of Art 232 -- The Creativity Pill
• 233 -- Psychedelia 235 -- A New Perspective 238 -- Encounters with Artists 239 -- Comic Strips 242 -- An Instead of LSD 243 -- High in Hollywood 244 -- 18 Source of Inspiration -- From Uranium to LSD 248 -- Open Minds, Open Systems 251 -- All is One 254 -- Legal, Illegal, Digital 255 -- Gaia 257 -- Symbiosis 259 -- Nobel Prizes 261 -- Peak Experiences 262 -- 19 Ways of Life -- Another Discovery 264 -- Paradise Found Again 267 -- The Company 269 -- Farewell to Sandoz 273 -- Father and Apostle 274 -- 20 Legacies -- The Problem Child 280 -- The Translator 284 -- The Media 285 -- Plants of the Gods 287 -- Wisdom of the Greeks 289 -- Scholarly Dialogue 292 -- At Eleusis 295 -- 21 Insights and Outlooks -- A Good Question 296 -- A Model of Reality 298 -- Philosophy and Ecology 301 -- Honors and Awards 304 -- 22 Stimulus and Impetus --
• A Belgian in Burg 306 -- Visitors From Around the World 309 -- Border Crosser 312 -- The Tank and the Deep Self 313 -- The Indian from Hamburg 316 -- The Trip Advisor 318 -- The Third Member 322 -- 23 Wisdom of Years -- Reflections on Nature 324 -- Secrets of a Long Life 327 -- Frontier Areas 329 -- Art and Ability 330 -- A Grandson Remembers 332 -- Albert Hofmann Turns One Hundred 334 -- The Old Man and His Child 339 -- Yet Another tribute 343 -- 24 Between Earth and Heaven -- Connections with the Whole World 344 -- The Albert Hofmann Medal 344 -- From Problem Child to Wonder Drug 346 -- Back to the Future 347 -- Behind Every Strong Man 348 -- Farewell and Mourning 349 -- Echo of a Life's Work 350 -- The Ultimate Journey 353.

ISBN

• 9780907791461 (hardcover)
• 0907791468 (hardcover)
• 9780907791447 (pbk.)
• 0907791441

LCCN

^^2013003308

OCLC

• 828626801
• SCSB-12884261

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library