Albert Hofmann, the Father of LSD, Dies at 102

From The New York Times:

PARIS — Albert Hofmann, the mystical Swiss chemist who gave the world LSD, the most powerful psychotropic substance known, died Tuesday at his hilltop home near Basel, Switzerland. He was 102.

The cause was a heart attack, said Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a California-based group that in 2005 republished Dr. Hofmann’s 1979 book “LSD: My Problem Child.”

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.

Perhaps we should all partake of LSD "hundreds of times" - it might increase our longevity.

ED has helpfully pointed out this site with a recipe for LSD for you home experimenters out there. (There are other recipes as well, including one that uses Foster's Beer).

Here's the recipe:

2 egg whites
1 oz mixture of 3 parts baking soda, 2 parts water.
2 fresh cherries
1 tsp red wine
1 tsp sugar.

First of all, you'll want to get some good, expensive red wine. The cheap stuff works, but your trips will be crappier and you'll get some nausea.

Ok, now that you have your stuff, put the Egg whites and cherries in a large bowl. Start stirring until you get a pinkish mass. Now, Pour in your mixture of baking soda. As you do this you will notice heat building and a small amount of smoke being let off- this is normal. Wait about 10 minutes to cool. Then Pour in the red wine. Immediately after you do this, steam will gather and after a few seconds you will be left with A clear liquid at the bottom of the bowl. This is your acid.