The retina as a window into the brain

Abstract

In 1885, Santiago Ramón y Cajal took a photographic self-portrait in his laboratory in Valencia, Spain, that shows his threadbare smock, sabots, simple microscope, and innumerable stains (appendix). With little money, little guidance, and not much knowledge of the scientific literature, he stated at that time that he was “forming the reckless desire to devote [himself]to the religion of the laboratory”, 1 Cajal SR Reglas y consejos sobre investigación científica: los tónicos de la voluntad (1897). Translated from Spanish to English by Swanson N, Swanson LW. Advice for a young investigator. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA2004 Google Scholar as he had been transformed from a restless rebel in his schooldays into a focused observer. He described how, in his youth, watching a frog cut open to display its mesentery, he was “enraptured and tremendously moved on seeing the red and white blood cells move about like pebbles caught up in the force of a torrent”. With great artistry and accuracy, he drew mostly from memory and was renowned for his extraordinary concentration and visual recall. He followed the contemporary credo: “what has not been drawn has not been seen”. 2 Swanson LW Newman EA Araque A Dubinsky JM King L Himmel E The beautiful brain: the drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Abrams Books, New York, NY2017 Google Scholar