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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann!
#3610797 - 01/11/05 12:08 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Dr. Albert Hofmann celebrates his 99th birthday on January 11, 2005
Dr. Albert Hofmann (born 11 January 1906) is a prominent Swiss scientist and best known as the "father" of LSD. He was born in Baden, Switzerland, and studied chemistry at the University of Zurich. His main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals, and he later conducted important research regarding the chemical structure of the common animal substance chitin, for which he received his doctorate. Hofmann joined the pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories, Basel (now Novartis), studying the medicinal plants squill and ergot as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals.
His research in lysergic acid, the central shared component of ergot alkaloids, eventually led to the synthesis of LSD-25 in 1938. It was five years later, on repeating synthesis of the almost forgotten substance, that Dr. Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD after accidentally ingesting some through his fingertips on April 16, 1943. Three days later, on April 19 (later known as Bicycle Day), Hofmann deliberately consumed 250 ?g of LSD, and experienced far more intense effects. This was followed by a series of self-experiments conducted by Hofmann and his colleagues. He first wrote about these experiments on April 22.
He became director of the natural products department at Sandoz and went on studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexican mushrooms and other plants used by the aboriginal people. This lead to the synthesis of psilocybin, the active agent of many "magic mushrooms".
Hofmann also got interested in the seeds of the Mexican magic morning glory species Rivea corymbosa, the seeds of which are called Ololiuhqui by the natives. He was very surprised to find the active compound of Ololiuhqui chemically very similar to LSD.
In 1962, he and his wife Anita travelled to southern Mexico to search for the magic plant ska Maria Pastora (leaves of Mary the shepherdess), later known as Salvia divinorum. He was able to obtain samples of this plant but never succeeded in identifying its active chemicals.
Dr. Pharm. (hc) Dr. Sc.Nat. (hc) Hofmann is Member of the Nobel Prize Committee, Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences, Member of the International Society of Plant Research and the American Society of Pharmacognosy.
He has been author of over 100 scientific articles and has written (or co-authored) a number of books, including LSD, My Problem Child, which is partly an autobiography and describes his famous bicycle ride.
(The online version of LSD, My Problem Child is available at http://www.flashback.se/archive/my_problem_child/)
-------------------- "Instead of all of this energy and effort directed at the war to end drugs, how about a little attention to drugs which will end war?" - Albert Hofmann
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ohmatic
searcher


Registered: 02/28/04
Posts: 6,742
Loc: europe
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Re: Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann! [Re: veggie]
#3611343 - 01/11/05 02:47 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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as i was finishing highscool, i chose the role of psychoactive substances in shamanism and therapeutical use, focussing on lsd for my exam in psychology. nedless to say that i finished it with an A, but the matter at all was incredibly interesting - all of this was before my first acid experience actually. now, some years later, and some acid experiences later, i must say that the gift he gave to the world was such an incredible kind, if i was to see him irl, id thank albert for being such a nice geeky chemist to find this chemical that unleashed spiritual power all over the world as far as i know hes still in good mental and physical shape and does quite well, he will sure enjoy his birthday, probably getting flooded by mail from acidheads all around the world, atleast from the ones who happen to have his mail addy. again, id like to thank him for the insight he granted me access to, and happy birthday, keep on kicking old man peace ohm
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MONOTUB tek HEATBOMB tek RIP #cultivation! ....can't associate? well FUCK U !
Edited by ohmatic (01/11/05 02:48 AM)
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baraka



Registered: 07/15/00
Posts: 10,768
Loc: hyperspace
Last seen: 2 years, 1 month
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Re: Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann! [Re: veggie]
#3612354 - 01/11/05 11:38 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Much respect for this man!
-------------------- This is the only time I really feel alive.
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butterflydawn
lucid dreamer


Registered: 01/25/04
Posts: 1,910
Loc: lost at sea
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Re: Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann! [Re: baraka]
#3612706 - 01/11/05 12:46 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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thanks for the gift happy birthday Dr.
-------------------- lucidal expansion
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mjshroomer
Sage
Registered: 07/21/99
Posts: 13,774
Loc: gone with my shrooms
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Re: Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann! [Re: veggie]
#3615514 - 01/11/05 10:55 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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I have known Albert hofmann since 1977.
Here is albert in the top left of the image and I am at the bottiom right of the image at the 2nd International Conference on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in October 1977. Others in the picture include: Scott Chilton, R. Gordon Wasson, Dick Schultes and Sasha Shulgin. We were having a round Table discussion. Thats me in plaid.

Here is a picture of Albert and and Geoffrey Brooke in Amsterdam in 1999 at the Psychoactivity Conference.

Here is an image of Albert and I. He is asking me to sign a copy of my book, "Teonan?catl: Ancient Shamanic and Contemporary Mushroom Names of Mesoameric and other regions of the world." Standing between Albett and I is Dutch Shroom entrepeneur, Hans Van den Hurk. He was the first to sell shrooms in the Nederlands and the first to be charged under their drug laws for selling dried shrooms. He owns all of the conscious Dreams Collectives 6-8 Smart Shops in Amsterdam, including the Kokopeli run by Veronique.

and here he is again with Dr. jochen Gartz at a conference ibn Rovereto, Italia in 1992. This was a conference on entheogens organized by Giorgio Samorini.

And a hapy 99 to you Albert.
Mj
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sui
I love you.


Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 32,070
Loc: Cali, Contra Costa Co.
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Re: Happy Birthday Dr. Hofmann! [Re: mjshroomer]
#3615946 - 01/12/05 12:42 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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happy birthday A. Hoffman!!!!!
-------------------- "There is never a wrong note, bend it." Jimi Hendrix
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BanJankri
FreefallerUpwards

Registered: 07/27/04
Posts: 1,392
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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"the first dose of my experiment... was very very strong"
hehe, happy birthday mr hoffman.
-------------------- Just let everything flow, just flow right to the center of everything. You gotta turn off your mind and relax, and then just float downstream...
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