Palace of Fine Arts
San Francisco
Ocotber 22, 2007





World famous neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks was interviewed for the "City Arts and Lectures" series regarding his most recent book, "Musicophilia ." He discussed many aspects of music and the brain, specifically discussing interesting phenomena regarding these issues he has seen in his patients. We learned that he doesn't believe in the "Mozart Effect," the idea that playing Mozart can improve a child's academic ability. Interestingly, according to Sacks, at least 1 out of 20 people experience what are called musical hallucinations. Pictured from left to right in the front row: Alexandria D'Souza, Nadia Kadkhodayan, Jack Chang, Will Fales, Tyler Johnson, Oliver Sacks, Kathy Li, Megan Karpf. Pictured from left to right in the back row: Kasper Smits, Naseem Raad, Kevin Murphy, Iris Kokish, Leon Kong, Andrew McLaren, Careen Ingle, Mr. Hammack.

AP Biology Gang With Robin Williams

We were lucky to see Robin Williams at the lecture. He played Oliver Sacks in the movie "Awakenings" which is probably why he was at the lecture (and he lives in San Francisco). Jack Chang bravely approached Williams and asked if he would join the class for a picture. Clearly this was the high point of the fieldtrip!!