Anthropologist on Mars...Oliver Sacks. A Review.

The most popular of Dr. Sacks' texts would have to be Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales After reading the latter some years ago, it opened my eyes to the numerous, strange neurological diseases that can befall a human being. In Sacks' engaging prose style, he relates the sad and debilitating deficits of the brain in layman's terms, giving the reader insight into neurology otherwise inaccessible for the untrained reader. "An Anthropologist on Mars" - Seven Paradoxical Tales", as a title, is somewhat misleading, as most people relate to the word "tales" as fiction. These tales are more or less "case histories" concerning, for example, a man, through an operation, can see again, but has to re-learn how to do so; a colour blind artist; a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome and a PHD with autism. In fact all the cases are fascinating and perplexing at the same time.

For some years in my career as a school teacher, I've worked with teenagers afflicted with autism and the experience has made me a more patient man but more so, gaining greater insight (and empathy) into the condition. This excellent book has only extended to further my understanding into autism.

The etiology of autism continues to be debated in neurological and psychiatric circles; however the symptoms vary in intensity; most lack emotion and insist on "order" in their environment and can "meltdown" if anything changes in their own world. There are different traits for each individual, and some have the ability in which they demonstrate; such as painting, writing or music that far excels the norm...years ago, these people were often tagged, "Idiot Savants."

The most intriguing case, for me at any rate, is the chapter, "A Surgeon's Life": a doctor, pilot and successful family man with Tourette's syndrome.

In Sacks' own words:

"Tourettes Syndrome is seen in every race, every culture, every stratum of society; it can be recognized at a glance once one is attuned to it; and cases of barking, of grimacing, of strange gesturing, of involuntary cursing and blaspheming, were recorded by Aretaeus of Cappadocia almost two thousand years ago."

Would you trust a surgeon with Tourette's to cut you open with a scalpel? Most people, I believe, would respond with a concrete, "No!"

Dr. Carl Bennett is a successful practicing surgeon and demonstrated to Dr. Sacks in the O.R., his calmness of mind and adept ability without any traits of someone with the syndrome; after the operation, however, these traits returned.

Dr. Bennett is also an accomplished pilot, flying Sacks over the countryside without any sign of Tourette's, landing the plane like a professional aviator. When Sacks asked his fellow pilots what they thought of Bennett's flying, all responded with nothing but praise for the man, some saying he was one of the best pilots in town.

How can this be?

A mystery: a remarkable individual with Tourette's Syndrome, who can transcend his condition and move to an area of his brain where he can practice surgery or pilot a plane without incident - nothing less than astonishing.

As already mentioned, all the seven cases in this text are terribly fascinating.

If you have any interest in the brain and human behavior, you will not go wrong by reading this text.