Beautiful Brain

The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal

• Publisher: Abrams
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781613129944
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Storia dell'arte

At the crossroads of art and science, Beautiful Brain presents Nobel Laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal's contributions to neuroscience through his groundbreaking artistic brain imagery. Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) was the father of modern neuroscience and an exceptional artist. He devoted his life to the anatomy of the brain, the body's most complex and mysterious organ. His superhuman feats of visualization, based on fanatically precise techniques and countless hours at the microscope, resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science. Beautiful Brain presents a selection of his exquisite drawings of brain cells, brain regions, and neural circuits with accessible descriptive commentary. These drawings are explored from multiple perspectives: Larry W. Swanson describes Cajal's contributions to neuroscience; Lyndel King and Eric Himmel explore his artistic roots and achievement; Eric A. Newman provides commentary on the drawings; and Janet M. Dubinsky describes contemporary neuroscience imaging techniques. This book is the companion to a traveling exhibition opening at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis in February 2017, marking the first time that many of these works, which are housed at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, have been seen outside of Spain. Beautiful Brain showcases Cajal's contributions to neuroscience, explores his artistic roots and achievement, and looks at his work in relation to contemporary neuroscience imaging, appealing to general readers and professionals alike.

THE

BEAUTIFUL

BRAIN

Edited with commentaries by Eric A. Newman, Alfonso Araque, and Janet M. Dubinsky

Essays by Larry W. Swanson, Lyndel King, and Eric Himmel

ABRAMS, NEW YORK

THE

BEAUTIFUL

BRAIN

The Drawings of

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

8

The Beautiful Brain

Eric A. Newman, Alfonso Araque,

and Janet M. Dubinsky

11

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Larry W. Swanson

21

Drawing the Beautiful Brain

Lyndel King and Eric Himmel

The Drawings

33

Cells of the Brain

83

Sensory Systems

121

Neuronal Pathways

157

Development and Pathology

193

Seeing the Beautiful Brain Today

Janet M. Dubinsky

202

Notes

204

Index

207

Acknowledgments

CONTENTS

Frontispiece.

Four self-portraits

taken by Cajal when he was

thirty-four years old, 1886

Previous spread.

Self-portrait,

taken by Cajal when he was in his

late fifties, c. 1910

Left.

Cajal (center) posing with

family members and friends in

Valencia, 1885. Cajal’s wife, Doña

Silveria, is standing over his left

shoulder. The men are members

of the Gaster-Club, a social group

in Valencia that got together for

Sunday excursions, to hike, take

photographs, and, as Cajal remem-

bered happily, “enjoy the tasty and

famous Valencian paella

.

”

THE BEAUTIFUL BRAIN

Eric A. Newman, Alfonso Araque, and Janet M. Dubinsky

Santiago Ramón y Cajal has rightly been credited as the father of modern neuroscience,

the study of the structure and function of the brain. Cajal, who li...