Before the birth of chemistry proper there were the alchemists, men and women living on the borderline between science and spirituality, attempting the transmutation of both chemicals and souls. Perhaps the nearest equivalent in the modern age would be Alexander ‘Sasha’ Shulgin and his wife Ann, who over many decades have synthesized and self-experimented with numerous psychopharmaceuticals, perhaps most notoriously MDMA (‘Ecstasy’). The documentary Dirty Pictures gives an excellent, rambling portrait of the Shulgins and their long career in exploring the stranger shores of neurochemistry:
You can purchase your own personal copy of this excellent documentary from Amazon.com.
