Born in 1906, Albert Hofmann would go on to study chemistry at the University of Zurich. In 1927, he found employment through Sandoz Pharmaceuticals. There, he would be assigned to medicinal plants research.

Hofmann was a bright chemist and because of his ingenious mind, he was given a task to work with ergot which was a fungus. In 1938, ergot was synthesized. The goal was to find what, if any, medicinal uses could be found in the fungus.

In 1943, Hofmann made a discovery when he completed a test on LSD-25. The first so-called test initially made Hofmann sick. Later, he would describe having visions for nearly two hours after he went home because of the sick feeling he had while working with LSD-25.

After that experiment and experience, Hofmann intentionally took LSD, in a small proportion, to see if the effects he felt from his first initial experience was in fact, due to his discovery. He rode his bike home and found remarkable hallucinations on the way home.

Albert Hofmann's discovery initially was thought to be a good medicinal approach in treating psychiatric patients. However, research on the drug ceased in 1962 and in 1967, government banned it altogether dubbing it illegal.

Hoffman believed that the drug was very helpful in psychoanalysis. However, after the drug was out of control in the sixties, he agreed that LSD could be potentially dangerous. Hofmann has written several books including LSD: My Problem Child.