THE ISLAND OF THE COLORBLIND

THE ISLAND OF THE COLORBLIND Oliver Sacks (Knopf, $24) It turns out that Sacks, neurologist and celebrated author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, is also an excellent travel writer. He flies to Pingelap, Micronesia to investigate color-blind islanders, where he hangs out with Knut Nordby, a cheerful Norwegian researcher. Their scientific findings mix nicely with their take on island culture, as they incorporate Pingelap mythology and hallucinogens into experiments and experiences. In the book's second half, a companion piece about Guam's cycad trees, Sacks waxes lyrical about an ancient plant that may or may not have caused a Parkinson's-like disease on the island; his study also transports him back to his childhood, when he first became fascinated by the Jurassic-period frond. The cycads, it's clear, still fire his imagination, making this the perfect tropical trip for any season. A-