--- title: Oliver Sacks: Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute on Twitter description: Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks died on Tuesday at age 82, months after he announced his terminal cancer. canonical: https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-30T13:46:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:33:11.119Z article:section: Science og:title: Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute to Oliver Sacks og:description: The neurologist and author has died at age 82 og:url: https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53fb80f5c2a3eb4d/6988618f5f570fb8d9b1d2b8/oliver-sacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2001 og:image:height: 1126 og:image:alt: Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute to Oliver Sacks twitter:description: The neurologist and author has died at age 82 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53fb80f5c2a3eb4d/6988618f5f570fb8d9b1d2b8/oliver-sacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute to Oliver Sacks on Twitter  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 30, 2015 1:46 PM UTC  Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks speaks at Columbia University on June 3, 2009 in New York City. Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks speaks at Columbia University on June 3, 2009 in New York City.Chris McGrath—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Aug 30, 2015 1:46 PM UTC High-profile scientists and writers honored the life of Oliver Sacks on Sunday, tweeting quotes, memories and farewells to the neurologist and acclaimed author who has died at 82, months after announcing his diagnosis with terminal cancer. Sacks was famous for writing popular, understandable books based on his work, including “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” From surgeon-writer Atul Gawande to digital media scientist Michael Hawley, see eight high-profile figures paying tribute to the life of Sacks: > [](http://twitter.com/Atul%5FGawande/status/637965132342161408) > [](http://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/637955079878877185) > [](http://twitter.com/JoyceCarolOates/status/637967546369581056) > [](http://twitter.com/MiaFarrow/status/637963367311912960) > [](http://twitter.com/mjhawley/status/637938915647881216) > [](http://twitter.com/nprscottsimon/status/637952699632386048) > [](http://twitter.com/oliviawilde/status/637953906639814656) > [](http://twitter.com/Carrie%5FRachel/status/637967731833200642) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/"},"headline":"Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute to Oliver Sacks on Twitter","datePublished":"2015-08-30T13:46:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:33:11.119Z","description":"The neurologist and author has died at age 82","url":"https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/","keywords":["celebrities","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53fb80f5c2a3eb4d/6988618f5f570fb8d9b1d2b8/oliver-sacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53fb80f5c2a3eb4d/6988618f5f570fb8d9b1d2b8/oliver-sacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks","caption":"Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks","creditText":"Chris McGrath—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016218/oliver-sacks-death-twitter/","name":"Scientists and Writers Pay Tribute to Oliver Sacks on Twitter"}}]}] ```