The Beautiful Brain

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), the father of modern neuroscience and a Nobel laureate, was 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 visualisation, based on fanatically precise techniques and countless hours at the microscope, resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science. An art book at the crossroads of art and science, Beautiful Brain describes Cajal's contributions to neuroscience, explores his artistic roots and achievement and looks at his work in relation to contemporary neuroscience imaging techniques

Larry W. Swanson is the author of Brain Architecture (2012) and a past president of the Society for Neuroscience. He is a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California. Eric A. Newman, Alfonso Araque, and Janet Dubinsky are distinguished neuroscientists at the University of Minnesota. Lyndel King is the director and chief curator of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis. Eric Himmel is editor in chief at Abrams Books, New York.