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Science Friday > Archives > 1997 > November > November 28, 1997

Hour One: Oliver Sacks/ Giant Squid
A rebroadcast of our conversation with neurologist Oliver Sacks about "The Island of the Colorblind."

It's the day after Thanksgiving - and that means SciFri is serving up a second helping of some of your favorite programs! In March of this past year, we talked to neurologist Oliver Sacks about his travels to the Pacific islands of Micronesia. Sacks, widely known for his many previous books including "Awakenings," "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," and "An Anthropologist on Mars," is known for his ability to bring the inner workings of the human mind into sharp focus for a general audience. In "The Island of the Colorblind," Sacks discusses his voyage to the island of Pingelap (a member of the Caroline Islands group, now part of the Republic of Micronesia), where a vast proportion of the population is completely colorblind. Sacks set up a clinic on Pingelap and interviewed residents, learning about life in a society of people with no sense of color. Then, Sacks travelled on to Guam, where he investigated a puzzling neurodegenerative disease known as Lytico-bodig, which causes paralysis and dementia.

Oliver Sacks loves squid! Find out why in our next half hour! (photo: Amy Sirot)

On this segment of Science Friday, Ira Flatow talks to Dr. Sacks about his travels, about neurology, and about the mysteries of the human mind.

Then...

On the day after Thanksgiving, we're serving up some fresh squid to give you a break from leftover turkey! In this rebroadcast of our interview with Dr. Clyde Roper, on the trail of the elusive giant squid off the coasts of New Zealand, we'll take you to the depths of the ocean. Plus, we'll talk with Oliver Sacks about his life-long interest in squid.

Giant squid have been reported by sailors and storytellers alike throughout the ages, but very little is actually known about them. On a mission to find and photograph the fabled giant squid, a group of scientists from the Smithsonian Institution set sail off the coast of New Zealand's South Island, in the Kaikoura Canyon.

Although Roper's expedition didn't manage to catch hold of their slippery goal, or even see one, their expedition was successful for a number of other reasons. On this segment of Science Friday, Ira Flatow talks to one of the expedition leaders fromtheir research vessel, and we'll learn why famed neurologist Oliver Sacks is silly for cephalopods!

Listen to this program in RealAudio!

Guests:
Oliver Sacks
Author, "The Island of the Colorblind," published by Knopf
Professor of Neurology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY

Clyde Roper
Zoologist
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC

Books discussed:
"The Island of the Colorblind" by Oliver Sacks

Related Links:
RealAudio broadcast of the original show

Hereditary colorblindness: Achromatopsia

Pacific Islands Internet Resources

The Smithsonian Expedition in Search of the Giant Squid

The Cephalopod Page

The National Resource Center for Cephalopods