The History of Acid Tripping: How LSD Changed America - Paperback

From the accidental discovery in a Swiss laboratory to the neon-soaked summers of the 1960s and the modern renaissance of clinical research, History of Acid Tripping by Eric Hurtado offers a definitive exploration of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD).

This isn't just a timeline of dates; it is a deep dive into how a single chemical compound reshaped Western culture, philosophy, and science. Hurtado meticulously traces the transformation of "acid" from a top-secret tool of government mind-control experiments to the catalyst of a global counterculture movement.

In this comprehensive history, you will discover:

The Sandoz Years: The strange story of Albert Hofmann's "problem child" and its early medical applications.

Cold War Shadows: The dark reality of MK Ultra and the attempts to weaponize the psychedelic experience.

The Cultural Explosion: How figures like Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, and the Grateful Dead turned a lab chemical into a social revolution.

The Modern Revival: The shift from "Turn on, tune in, drop out" to the contemporary era of micro-dosing and breakthrough psychedelic therapy.

Combining rigorous research with narrative flair, Eric Hurtado examines the profound impact of the psychedelic experience on art, technology, and the human search for meaning.