The Battle Over the Butterflies of the Soul: Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, and the Birth of Neuroscience
By Wallace B. Mendelssohn, MD.
Recommended on: 20th August 2023
The Battle Over the Butterflies of the Soul: Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, and the Birth of Neuroscience, by Wallace B. Mendelssohn, MD.
One of the more intriguing rivalries in the history of science is that between the Italian Camillo Golgi and the Spaniard Santiago Ramón y Cajal—both of whom received the Nobel Prize for their interlinked discoveries. Golgi’s staining methods gave Cajal the start of a methodology he refined to help him get a more comprehensive view of neurons. Both scientists initially published in back-water journals, so it’s no surprise that each at first remained unaware of aspects of the other’s work. Cajal would publish studies claiming results that Golgi had published earlier. The brash younger Cajal would write Golgi to challenge his theories aggressively—in particular, Golgi’s hypothesis that only a single, large interwebbed “reticulum” of cells was fused to form the brain’s neural networks. This short book by Dr. Mendelson describes the development of staining techniques in photography and neuroscience and examines the rivalry between the pair. Why was Golgi so stubborn—and wrong—in the face of overwhelming data? This book by psychiatrist Wallace Mendelson comes as close to what we can know today as the answer.
MORE INFORMATION FROM AMAZON.COM >Order The Battle Over the Butterflies of the Soul: Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, and the Birth of Neuroscience
You can order The Battle Over the Butterflies of the Soul: Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, and the Birth of Neuroscience, using a retailer below
