Historical Figure
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
d. 1934
Spanish neuroscientist (1852–1934)
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Biography
Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specialising in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906. Ramón y Cajal was the first Spaniard to win a scientific Nobel Prize. His original investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience.
In Their Own Words (5)
As Claude Bernard has pointed out, researchers cannot transcend the determinism of phenomena; instead, their mission is limited to demonstrating the how, never the why, of observed changes. This is a modest goal in the eyes of philosophy, yet an imposing challenge in actual practice.
1897
The intellect is presented with phenomena marching in review before the sensory organs. It can be truly useful and productive only when limiting itself to the modest tasks of observation, description, and comparison, and of classification that is based on analogies and differences. A knowledge of underlying causes and empirical laws will then come slowly through the use of inductive methods.
1897
The unique method of reflection indulged in by the Pythagoreans and followers of Plato (and pursued in modern times by Descartes, Fichte, Krause, Hegel, and more recently at least partly by Bergson) involves exploring one’s own mind or soul to discover universal laws and solutions to the great secrets of life.
1897
Any man could, if he were so inclined, be the sculptor of his own brain ( p. xv).
1897
Knowing the conditions under which a phenomenon occurs allows us to reproduce or eliminate it at will, therefore allowing us to control and use it for the benefit of humanity. Foresight and action are the advantages we obtain from a deterministic view of phenomena.
1897
Timeline
The story of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, told in moments.
Graduated from medical school in Zaragoza, where his father taught anatomy. Served as a military doctor in Cuba, contracted both malaria and tuberculosis, and recovered in a Pyrenees spa town. Drawing bones during childhood summers in graveyards with his father had pushed him toward medicine.
Used an improved version of Golgi's staining method to produce the first clear images of individual nerve cells. His exquisite drawings of neurons proved that the brain was made of separate cells, not a continuous web. The "neuron doctrine" was born.
Shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Camillo Golgi, whose own staining technique he'd used. Golgi still disagreed with him on the neuron doctrine. Awkward ceremony. First Spanish scientist to win a Nobel.
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