In Passing-Albert Hofmann Dies

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD in 1938, died Tuesday. He was 102. Hoffman became a chemist because of his love of the natural world and a desire to seek the essence of nature. He likened his first accidental 'trip' on LSD to the Epiphany he had experienced as a young boy becoming one with natural world in the forests near Baden.

“It shone with the most beautiful radiance, speaking to the heart, as though it wanted to encompass me in its majesty. I was filled with an indescribable sensation of joy, oneness and blissful security.” ....." Yet despite his involvement with psychoactive compounds, Dr. Hofmann remained moored in his Swiss chemist identity. He stayed with Sandoz as head of the research department for natural medicines until his retirement in 1971. He wrote more than 100 scientific articles and was the author or co-author of a number of books" NYT

Hoffman believed LSD to to be a powerful drug to be treated with respect, but one capable of aiding the participant in an understanding of the wonder of nature.

" He said LSD had not affected his understanding of death. In death, he said, “I go back to where I came from, to where I was before I was born, that’s all.” See New York Times Article