Thought it came into clinical use only in the late 1960s, piracetam is the granddaddy of a whole class of related smart drugs. Observers of the worldwide smart-drug scene estimate that greater numbers of normal, healthy people take piracetam for its brain-boosting effects than any other smart drug. Piracetam is also the compound that inspired the name nootropic, coined by pharmacologist Cornelius Giurgea. With almost thirty years of international use behind it and a multitude of scientific studies (done mainly in Europe) exploring its effects, piracetam’s popularity is rapidly expanding even in places like the United States, where it is neither sold by pharmacists nor recognized as therapeutically useful by the medical establishment. Many of those who have looked beyond the official dismissals of piracetam, however, see a safe and promising substance.