A mind-altering poem. A transcendent song that stays with you forever. Movies that shook your belly or blew your mind. Recipes that rearranged your taste buds.

Obituaries in The New York Times give account of the creations left behind by their subjects, and reading about them can be an exercise in the discovery of marvelous things, or at least a reminder of them. Here is a sampling:

A Photograph

Only one person was allowed to carry a camera in Oak Ridge, Tenn., during World War II: Ed Westcott. Along with him, the city was home to the enrichment of uranium as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. Mr. Westcott was designated the official photographer of that top-secret city, and he chronicled the lives of the people who lived there and the work they did in helping to give birth to the atomic age.