Fridtjof Nansen: from the neuron to the North Polar Sea.

Abstract

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), the Norwegian explorer, oceanographer, statesman, Nobel Peace Prizewinner is best known for his arctic travels. He began his professional career as an invertebrate zoologist at the Bergen Museum in Norway but soon developed an interest in the histological structure of the nervous system. Along with His, Koelliker, Lenhossek and Forel he was a pioneer advocate of what came later to be known as the Neuron Doctrine, but his role is now generally relegated to the footnotes of the history of neuroscience. Comparison with the independent, parallel papers of His and Forel gives Nansen technical priority. The reasons for his relative obscurity as a pioneer neuroscientist are many, but foremost among them must be the persistent failure of Ramón y Cajal to acknowledge Nansen's pioneering insights.