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SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION IN 19TH CENTURY NEUROSCIENCE

Cajal’s Butterflies of the Soul
Javier DeFelipe
Oxford, 2010

In the nineteenth-century, pioneering investigators of the central nervous system had to compensate for primitive technology with extraordinary artistic talent.  They produced drawings of their experimental slides in order to preserve the revelations therein.  Strange, complex, and utterly gorgeous, these figures are the inspiration for Cajal’s Butterflies of the Soul.

The book features illustrations by 91 researchers.  It’s named after Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) since his illustrations contributed more than those of anyone else at the time to the growth of modern neuroscience.  

[ SOURCE: The Beautiful Brain ]