The Island of the Colour-blind and Cycad Island by Oliver Sacks - Oct 1997

Picador, Oct 1997. New edition. Paperback. This was described as two books in one but there seemed like at least three strands to the subject matter. In fact the chapters were broken down into four long chapters; the first two tell of the indigenous peoples predisposition to a rare type of genetic colour blindness. Sacks travels with a western colleage who also has this condition along with expert knowledge.\r\n\r\nThe third (mammoth) chapter was unexpected from the title which is the chief reason why I didn't rate this book more highly. As a neurologist, Sacks cannot resist the temptation here to launch into a huge digression of a further medical curiosity peculiar to the islands (a disease/s of the brain, often affecting the rest of the body with time.) Sacks is expert here and writes competently, but this was not the story I bought the book for. If you like neurology stories, another of his books (the man who mistook his wife for a hat) is recommended.\r\n\r\nFinally, the last and smallest chapter (around 20 pages), was devoted soley to the natural history of one of the islands (where prehistoric plants abound). This chapter lucidly communicated the depths of time, which was excellent reading. The extensive notes at the end were also well worth a read.