-Tyler http://www.bookstove.com//-Tyler. New posts by -Tyler Uncle Tungsten Book Report/summary http://www.bookstove.com/Autobiography/Uncle-Tungsten-Book-Reportsummary.39252 The story begins, in the 1930's, just before the second world war. The story is told by the author, Oliver Sacks, who is a young child when the story begins. At the beginning of the story Oliver takes an interest in metals and elements, he is very young, and asks lots of questions to his mother, who tries to answer his them most of the time but sometimes gets annoyed with him (I would too). There is one person, however, who does take the time to answer every question he has and that is his Uncle, who has been nicknamed Uncle Tungsten because he makes light bulbs with Tungsten Filaments. Uncle Tungsten is very supportive of Oliver's interest in chemistry and has an interest in chemistry himself, he constantly gives him demonstrations of chemical reactions, properties of elements, etc. Uncle Tungsten himself, is very fond of the element Tungsten because of its' property, he describes it as “an ideal metal.” Oliver came from a family who was very well educated, both of his parents were doctors and he had lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins who were chemists, scientists, doctors, and mathematicians who are spread out all over the world. He has strong bonds with his parents, Oliver loves to go to house calls with his father, he says that it was one of his favorite things to do, Oliver would hold his bags and hand him supplies while he worked with patients.

Shortly after the story begins Oliver and his brother are sent to a boarding school, by the name of Braefield, because his home was no longer safe because of the war. At the school he is beaten and mistreated. Oliver is damaged mentally by this. When he visits home one time, he imprisoned his dog (which he loved) in a freezing coalbin one winter for no particular reason, where she almost died, this is evidence of his damaged mental state. Also when he returned from the boarding school one of his friends who knew him before and after the war described him as being different, he no longer stands up for himself, he no longer speaks up against something that he thinks is wrong, and he never argues with anyone. He did all of these things before he was sent to the boarding school. His parents reveal to him that there was a bomb that landed in thier neighbors garden, which was a thousand pounds, that never exploded during the war.

When he returns from the boarding school his interests in chemistry continue. His uncle Tungsten encourages him to set a lab and do experiments. His parents are extremely supportive of him, and allow him to set up a lab in the laundry room. Oliver has lots of slip-ups when doing experiments, he describes his lawn as being browned in most areas because whenever he has an experiment go wrong or a chemical reaction get out of hand he just throws it onto the lawn in his backyard. He is intrigued by the vivid colors, strange aromas, explosions, and other things of that nature which continually draw him into chemistry, His parents surprisingly don't punish him for any of his mishaps and continually support him. As do his brothers Davis and Marcus, who take a liking to Oliver's experiments, and assist him and create their own with him. Sacks absolutely adores the periodic table, its order and logic are enthralling to him.

When Oliver was about 14, however, his parents had decided that this childish hobby had gone on long enough, as his parents lost enthusiasm in Oliver's work so did he, and he completely dropped it, in a short period of time. The passion he had once had for chemistry had left him. Mr. Sacks went on to become a neurologist, but sometimes misses the way that chemistry used to make him feel, he describes it as his lost love.

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