Synthesized dreams

摘要

Albert Hofmann never had a rational explanation for his discovery of the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the 'eureka moment' that changed his life. He first synthesized the hallucinogen in 1938, in the laboratory of pharmaceuticals company Sandoz in Basel, Switzerland, while searching for a cardiovascular stimulant based on ergot, a grain fungus. However, it had shown no particular promise. Five years later, a "peculiar presentiment" prompted him to recreate the molecule, after which he noticed a feeling of slight dizziness and a mild psychoactive effect.