Albert in the Sky

Albert Hoffmann, notable Swiss chemist and creator of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), died yesterday at 102. His world-rocking epiphany:

Dr. Hofmann first synthesized the compound lysergic acid diethylamide in 1938 but did not discover its psychopharmacological effects until five years later, when he accidentally ingested the substance that became known to the 1960s counterculture as acid.

He then took LSD hundreds of times, but regarded it as a powerful and potentially dangerous psychotropic drug that demanded respect. More important to him than the pleasures of the psychedelic experience was the drug’s value as a revelatory aid for contemplating and understanding what he saw as humanity’s oneness with nature. That perception, of union, which came to Dr. Hofmann as almost a religious epiphany while still a child, directed much of his personal and professional life.

Per James Joyner, "Just think how long he might have lived were it not for his drug experimentation."

Without going into the dissertation of this mind-expanding drug, which should only be used voluntarily under strict medical supervision for approved therapeutic purposes in countries where it might possibly be legal, the fun fact is that there's no other drug which has inspired it's own artistic medium.

I speak, of course, of the blotter.

Goodbye, Albert.

We'll think of you the next time our faces are melting.