Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Three before their time: neuroscientists whose ideas were ignored by their contemporaries

  • Review
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

I discuss three examples of neuroscientists whose ideas were ignored by their contemporaries but were accepted as major insights decades or even centuries later. The first is Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) whose ideas on the functions of the cerebral cortex were amazingly prescient. The second is Claude Bernard (1813–1878) whose maxim that the constancy of the internal environment is the condition for the free life was not understood for about 50 years when it came to dominate the development of modern physiology. The third is Joseph Altman (1925–) who overturned the traditional dogma that no new neurons are made in the adult mammalian brain and was vindicated several decades later.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrous N, Koehl M, Le Moal M (2005) Adult neurogenesis: from precursors to network and physiology. Physiol Rev 85:523–569

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J (1962) Are new neurons formed in the brains of adult mammals? Science 135:1127–1128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J (1963) Autoradiographic investigation of cell proliferation in the brains of rats and cats. Postnatal growth and differentiation of the mammalian brain, with implications for a morphological theory of memory. Anat Rec 145:573–591

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J (1967) Postnatal growth and differentiation of the mammalian brain, with implications for a morphological theory of memory. In: Quarton GC, Melnechuck T, Schmitt FO (eds) The neurosciences, a study program. Rockefeller University Press, New York, pp 723–743

    Google Scholar 

  • Altman J (1969) Autoradiographic and histological studies of postnatal neurogenesis IV. Cell proliferation and migration in the anterior forebrain, with special reference to persisting neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb. J Comp Neurol 137:433–458

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J, Das GD (1965) Autoradiographic and histological evidence of postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis in rats. J Comp Neurol 124:319–335

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J, Das GD (1966a) Autoradiographic and histological studies of postnatal neurogenesis. I. A longitudinal investigation of the kinetics, migration and transformation of cells incorporating tritiated thymidine in neonate rats, with special reference to postnatal neurogenesis in some brain regions. J Comp Neurol 126:337–390

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J, Das GD (1966b) Autoradiographic and histological studies of postnatal neurogenesis. II. A longitudinal investigation of the kinetics, migration and transformation of cells incorporating tritiated thymidine in neonate rats, with special reference to postnatal neurogenesis in some brain regions. J Comp Neurol 128:431–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altman J, Bayer SA (1995) Atlas of prenatal rat brain development. CRC, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Altman J, Bayer SA (1996) Development of the cerebellar system: in relation to its evolution, structure, and functions. CRC, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (1844) Review of Swedenborg E., The animal kingdom. Athenaeum Jan 20, 1844, p 61

  • Baker GL (1992) Religion and science: from Swedenborg to chaotic dynamics. Solomon Press, Bath

  • Barcroft J (1932) La fixitè du milieu interieur est la condition de la vie libre (Claude Bernard). Biol Rev 7:24–87

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barnea A, Nottebohm F (1994) Seasonal recruitment of hippocampal neurons in adult free-ranging black-capped chickadees. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91:11217–11221

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barnea A, Nottebohm F (1996) Recruitment and replacement of hippocampal neurons in young and adult chickadees: an addition to the theory of hippocampal learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:714–718

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bartholin T (1656) Anatomia reformata, quote translated. In Schiller F (1965) The rise of the ‘enteroid process’ in the 19th century: some landmarks in cerebral nomenclature. Bull Hist Med 41:515–538

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayer SA, Altman J (2007) Atlas of human central nervous system. 5 vols. CRC, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard C (1961) Introduction to the study of experimental medicine. (trans: Greene HC). Collier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard C (1974) Lectures on the phenomena common to animals and plants. (trans: Hoff HE, Guillemin R, Guillemin L) Charles C Thomas, Springfield

  • Boss BD, Peterson GM, Cowan WM (1985) On the number of neurons in the dentate gyrus of the rat. Brain Res 338:144–150

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burd GD, Nottebohm F (1985) Ultrastructural characterization of synaptic terminals formed on newly generated neurons in a song control nucleus of the adult canary forebrain. J Comp Neurol 240:143–152

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bush G (1847) Mesmer and Swedenborg or The relation of the developments of mesmerism to the doctrines of disclosures of Swedenborg. John Allen, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron HA, Dayer AG (2008) New interneurons in the adult neocortex: small, sparse, but significant? Biol Psychiat 63:650–655

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron HA, McKay RD (2001) Adult neurogenesis produces a large pool of new granule cells in the dentate gyrus. J Comp Neurol 435:406–417

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron HA, Wolley CS, McEwen BS, Gould E (1993) Differentiation of newly born neurons and glia in the dentate gyrus of the adult rat. Neuroscience 56:337–344

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon WB (1929) Organization for physiological homeostasis. Physiol Rev 9:399–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon WB (1963a) The wisdom of the body. Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon WB (1963b) Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear and rage. Harper and Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke EC, Bearn JG (1968) The brain ‘glands’ of Malpighi elucidated by practical history. J Hist Med Allied Sci 23:309

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman W (1985) The cognitive basis of the discipline: Claude Bernard on physiology. Isis 76:49–70

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Combe G (1852) Lectures on phrenology. Fowlers and Wells, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Corotto FS, Henegar JR, Maruniak JA (1994) Odor deprivation leads to reduced neurogenesis and reduced neuronal survival in the olfactory bulb of the adult mouse. Neuroscience 61:739–744

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cranefield PF (1974) The way in and the way out: Francois Magendie Charles Bell and the roots of the spinal nerves. Future, Mount Kisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis MA, Kam M, Nannmark U, Anderson MF, Axell MZ, Wikkelso C, Holtås S, van Roon-Mom WM, Björk-Eriksson T, Nordborg C, Frisén J, Dragunow M, Faull RL, Eriksson PS (2007) Human neuroblasts migrate to the olfactory bulb via a lateral ventricular extension. Science 315:1243–1249

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Descartes R (1972) Treatise on man (trans: Hall TS). Harvard, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Deloulme JC, Lucas M, Gaber C, Bouillon P, Keller A, Eclancher F, Senbsenbrenner M (1996) Expression of the neuron-specific enolase gene by rat oligodendroglial cells during their differentiation. J Neurochem 66:936–945

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dole GF, Kirven RH (1997) Scientist explores spirit: a biography of Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, West Chester

  • Eckenhoff MF, Rakic P (1988) Nature and fate of proliferative cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus during the life span of the rhesus monkey. J Neurosci 8:2729–2747

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fritsch GT, Hitzig E (1870) On the electrical excitability of the cerebrum. In: Some papers on the cerebral cortex (trans: von Bonin G) In: Charles C Thomas. Springfield

  • Eriksson PS, Perfilieva E, Björk-Eriksson T, Alborn AM, Nordborg C, Peterson DA, Gage FH (1998) Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Med 4:1313–1317

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flint AJ Jr (1878) Claude Bernard and his physiological works. Am J Med Sci 76:161–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster M (1899) Claude Bernard. Unwin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster M (1901) Lectures on the history of physiology during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Cambridge, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredericq L (1973) The influence of the environment on the composition of blood of aquatic animals. In: Langley LL (ed) Homeostasis: origins of the concept. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, pp 166–170

    Google Scholar 

  • French RD (1975) Antivivisection and medical science. Princeton, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner H (1985) The mind’s new science: a history of the cognitive revolution. Basic Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman SA, Nottebohm F (1983) Neuronal production, migration, and differentiation in a vocal control nucleus of the adult female canary brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 80:2390–2394

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, E (2006) Non-synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. In: Anderson P, Morris R, Amaral D, Bliss T, O’Keefe (eds) The hippocampus book. Oxford, Oxford

  • Gould E (2007) How widespread is adult neurogenesis in mammals? Nat Rev Neurosci 8:481–488

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gould E, Reeves AJ, Fallah M, Tanapat P, Gross CG, Fuchs E (1999) Hippocampal neurogenesis in Old World primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:5263–5267

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gould E, Tanapat P, McEwen BS, Flugge G, Fuchs E (1998) Proliferation of granule cell precursors in the dentate gyrus of adult monkeys is diminished by stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:3168–3171

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grande F (1967) Introduction to the symposium. In: Grande F, Visscher MB (eds) Claude Bernard and experimental medicine. Schenkman, Cambridge, pp 3–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Grmek MD (1970a) Bernard, Claude. In: Gillespie CC (ed) Dictionary of scientific biography, vol 2. Scribner, New York, pp 24–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Grmek MD (1970b) Francois Magendie. In: Gillespie CC (ed) Dictionary of scientific biography, vol 9. Scribner, New York, pp 6–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Groll U (2000) Swedenborg and new paradigm science. Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, West Chester

  • Gross CG (1993) The hippocampus minor and man’s place in nature: a case study in the social construction of neuroanatomy. Hippocampus 3:403–415

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (1994) How inferior temporal cortex became a visual area. Cereb Cor 5:455–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (1995) Aristotle on the brain. Neuroscientist 1:245–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (1997) Emmanuel Swedenborg: a neuroscientist before his time. Neuroscientist 3:142–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (1998a) Brain, vision, memory: tales in the history of neuroscience. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (1998b) Claude Bernard and the constancy of the internal environment. Neuroscientist 4:380–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross CG (2000) Neurogenesis in the adult brain: death of a dogma. Nat Rev Neurosci 1:67–73

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haldane JS (1931) The philosophical basis of biology. Hodder and Stoughton, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson LJ (1928) Blood: a study of general physiology. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson LJ (1935) Pareto’s general sociology: a physiologist’s interpretation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson LJ (1958) The fitness of the environment. Beacon, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson LJ (1961) Introduction. In: Bernard C (ed) Introduction to the study of experimental medicine. Collier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • His W (1904) Die Entwicklung des Menschlichen Gehirns. Hirzel, Leipzig

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes FL (1963) Claude Bernard and the milieu interieur. Arch Int Hist Sci 16:369–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes FL (1965) Contributions of marine biology to the development of the concept of the milieu interieur. Vie Milieu 19(Suppl):321–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes FL (1967) Origins of the concept of milieu interieur. In: Grande F, Visscher MB (eds) Claude Bernard and experimental medicine. Schenkman, Cambridge, pp 171–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes FL (1974) Claude Bernard and animal chemistry. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson M (1970) Developmental Neurobiology. Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson I (1971) Emanuel Swedenborg. Twayne, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson I (1999) Visionary scientist: the effects of science and philosophy on Swendenborg’s cosmography. Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, West Chester

  • Kaplan MS (1981) Neurogenesis in the 3-month-old rat visual cortex. J Comp Neurol 195:323–338

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan MS (1983) Proliferation of subependymal cells in the adult primate CNS: differential uptake of DNA labeled precursors. J Hirnforsch 23:23–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan MS (1984) Mitotitic neuroblasts in the 9-day-old and 11-month-old rodent hippocampus. J Neurosci 4:1429–1441

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan MS (1985) Formation and turnover of neurons in young and senescent animals: an electron microscopic and morphometric analysis. Ann NY Acad Sci 457:173–192

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan MS (2001) Environment complexity stimulates visual cortex neurogenesis: death of a dogma and a research career. Trends Neurosci 24:617–620

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan MS, Hinds JW (1977) Neurogenesis in the adult rat: electron microscopic analysis of light radioautographs. Science 197:1092–1094

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirn JR, Nottebohm F (1993) Direct evidence for loss and replacement of projection neurons in adult canary brain. J Neurosci 13:1654–1663

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koelliker A (1896) Handbuch der Gewebelehre des Menschen. Engelmann, Leipzig

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn HG, Dickinson-Anson H, Gage FH (1996) Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the adult rat: age-related decrease of neuronal progenitor proliferation. J Neurosci 16:2027–2033

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Langley LL (1973) Introduction and comments. In: Langley LL (ed) Homeostasis: origins of the concept. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, pp 73–76, 173–174

  • Leuner B, Gould E, Shors TJ (2006) Is there a link between adult neurogenesis and learning? Hippocampus 16:216–224

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lois C, Alvarez-Buylla A (1994) Long-distance neuronal migration in the adult mammalian brain. Science 264:1145–1148

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macallum AB (1926) The paleochemistry of the body fluids and tissues. Physiol Rev 6:316–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Malpighi M (1666) De cerebri cortice. Montius, Bologna. Quote translated in Clarke E, O’Malley CD (eds) (1996) The human brain and spinal cord. University of California Press, Berkeley

  • Mandairon N, Sacquet J, Garcia S, Ravel N, Jourdan F, Didier A (2006) Neurogenic correlates of an olfactory discrimination task in the adult olfactory bulb. Eur J Neurosci 24:3578–2588

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1982) The growth of biological thought. Harvard, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer A (1971) Historical aspects of cerebral anatomy. Oxford, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen RJ, Buck CR, Smith AM (1992) NeuN, a neuronal specific nuclear protein in vertebrates. Development 116:201–211

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neuburger M (1897) The historical development of experimental brain and spinal cord physiology before Flourens. (trans: Clarke E 1981) Johns Hopkins, Baltimore

  • Neuburger M (1901) Swedenborgs Beziehungen zur Gehirnphysiologie. Wien MedWochen 51:2077–2081

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordenskiold E (1928) The history of biology. Tudor, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Norrving B, Sourander P (1989) Emanuel Swedenborg’s theories on the structure and function of the nervous system. In: Rose FC (ed) Neuroscience across the century. Smith-Gordon, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Nottebohm F (1985) Neuronal replacement in adulthood. Ann NY Acad Sci 457:143–161

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nottebohm F (1989). In: Lakoski JM, Perez-Polo JR, Rossin DK (eds) Neural control of reproductive function. A R Liss, New York

  • Nottebohm F (1996) The King Solomon lectures in neuroethology. A white canary on Mount Acropolis. J Comp Physiol A 179:149–156

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Novak B (1969) American painting of the 19th century. Praeger, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowakowski RS, Lewin SB, Miller MW (1989) Bromodeoxyuridine immunohistochemical determination of the lengths of the cell cycle and the DNA-synthetic phase for an anatomically defined population. J Neurocytol 18:311–318

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Odhner HL (1969) The human mind: its faculties and degrees: a study of Swedenborg’s Psychology. Swedenborg Scientific Association, Bryn Athyn

  • Olmsted JMD (1939) Claude Bernard, physiologist. Cassell, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Olmsted JMD (1944) Francois Magendie: pioneer in experimental physiology and scientific medicine in XIX century France. Schuman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Olmsted JMD, Olmsted EH (1952) Claude Bernard and the experimental method in medicine. Schuman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Olmsted EH (1967) Historical phases in the influence of Bernard’s scientific generalizations in England and America. In: Grande F, Visscher MB (eds) Claude Bernard and experimental medicine. Schenkman, Cambridge, pp 24–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Osgood S (2005) Swedenborg and the mysticism of science. Kessinger, Whitefish

  • Paton JA, Nottebohm F (1984) Neurons generated in the adult brain are recruited into functional circuits. Science 225:1046–1048

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Petit A (1987) Claude Bernard and the history of science. Isis 78:201–219

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabagliati A (1883, 1888) Review of Swedenborg E. The brain considered anatomically, physiologically and philosophically. Brain 1883; 6:404–413 and 1888; 10:512–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakic P (1985a) DNA synthesis and cell division in the adult primate brain. Ann NY Acad Sci 457:193–211

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rakic P (1985b) Limits of neurogenesis in primates. Science 227:1054–1056

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ramón y Cajal S (1928) Degeneration and regeneration of the nervous system (trans: Day RM). Oxford, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramón y Cajal S (1999) Texture of the nervous system of man and the vertebrates (trans: Pasik P Pasik T ). Springer, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramstrom M (1910) Emanuel Swedenborg’s investigations in natural science and the basis for his statements concerning the functions of the brain. University of Upsala, Uppsala

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramstrom M (1911) Swedenborg on the cerebral cortex as the seat of psychical activity. In: Transactions of the International Swedenborg Congress. The Swedenborg Society, London

  • Retzius G (1908) The principles of the minute structure of the nervous system as revealed by recent investigations. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 80:414–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter CR (1927) Animal behavior and internal drives. Q Rev Biol 2:307–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robin ED (ed) (1979) Claude Bernard and the internal environment: a memorial symposium. M. Dekker, New York

  • Rosenblueth A, Wiener N, Bigelow J (1943) Behavior, teleology, and purpose. Philos Sci 10:18–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosser AE, Tyers P, Ter Borg M, Dunnett SB, Svendsen CN (1997) Co-expression of MAP-2 and GFAP in cells developing from rat EGF responsive precursor cells. Brain Res Dev Brain Res 98:291–295

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rupke NA (1987) Pro-vivisection in England in the early 1880s: arguments and motives. In: Rupke NA (ed) Vivisection in historical perspective. Croom Helm, Beckenham, pp 188–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiller J (1967) Claude Bernard and vivisection. J Hist Med Allied Sci 22:246–260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scholzen T, Gerdes J (2000) the Ki-67 protein: from the known and the unknown. J Cell Physiol 182:311–322

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schupbach W (1987) A select iconography of animal experimentation. In: Rupke NA (ed) Vivisection in historical perspective. Croom Helm, Beckenham, pp 340–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Seki T, Arai Y (1995) Age-related production of new granule cells in the adult dentate gyrus. Neuroreport 6:2479–2482

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sensenbrenner M, Lucas M, Deloulme JC (1997) Expression of two neuronal markers, growth-associated protein 43 and neuron-specific enolase, in rat glial cells. J Mol Med 75:653–663

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sherrington CS (1961) The integrative action of the nervous system. Yale, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidman RL, Miale IL, Feder N (1959) Cell proliferation and migration in the primitive ependymal zone; an autoradiographic study of histogenesis in the nervous system. Exp Neurol 1:322–333

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sigerist HE (1931) The great doctors (trans: Paul EC 1933) Norton, New York

  • So K, Moriya T, Nishitani S, Takahashi H, Shinohara K (2008) The olfactory conditioning in the early postnatal period stimulated neural stem-progenitor cells in the subventricular zone and increased neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb of rats. Neuroscience 151:120–128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stanfield BB, Trice JE (1988) Evidence that granule cells generated in the dentate gyrus of adult rats extend axonal projections. Exp Brain Res 72:399–406

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Starling EH (1909) The fluids of the body. Keener, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Swedenborg E (1843–1844) Regnum animale, 2 vols. Blyvenburg, The Hague, (trans: Wilkinson JJG) as The animal kingdom. Newberry, London

  • Swedenborg E (1845–1846) Oeconomia regni animalis. 2 vols. Franc, London. In: (trans:Clissold A) as The economy of the animal kingdom. W. Newberry, London

  • Swedenborg E (1849) De anima. Newberry, London. (trans: Sewall F 1887) The soul or rational psychology, New Church, New York

  • Swedenborg E (1914) The five senses (trans: Price ES). Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Swedenborg E (1922) Psychological transactions. (trans: Acton A). Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Swedenborg E (1938, 1940) Three transactions on the cerebrum. 2 vols. (trans: Acton A) Swedenborg Scientific Association, Philadelphia

  • Swedenborg E (1982, 1987) The Brain considered anatomically, physiologically and philosophically. 2 vols. (trans: Tafel RL) Speirs, London

  • Tafel RL (ed) (1877) Documents concerning the life and character of Emanuel Swedenborg, 3 vols. Swedenborg Society, London

  • Temkin O (1946a) The philosophical background of Magendie’s physiology. Bull Hist Med 20:10–13

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Temkin O (1946b) Materialism in French and German physiology of the early nineteenth century. Bull Hist Med 20:322–327

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toksvig S (1848) Emanuel Swedenborg. Yale, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Toksvig S (2007) Emanuel Swedenborg: scientist and mystic. Kessinger, Whitefish

  • Transactions of the international Swedenborg congress (1911). The Swedenborg Society, London

  • Very FW (2005) Swedenborg as an anatomist. Kessinger, Whitefish

  • Very FW (2006) Swedenborg’s science and its relation to the science of today. Kessinger, Whitefish

  • Vesalius A (1543) De humani corporis fabrica, Oporinus, Basel Quote translated. In: Clarke E, O’Malley CD (eds) (1968) The human brain and spinal cord. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Virtanen R (1960) Claude Bernard and his place in the history of ideas. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasserstein AG (1996) Death and the internal milieu: Claude Bernard and the origins of experimental medicine. Perspect Biol Med 39:313–326

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watson JB (1930) Behaviorism. Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiener N (1961) Cybernetics or control and communication in the animal and the machine. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson J (1849) Emanuel Swedenborg: a biography. Otis Clapp, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis T (1664) Cerebri anatome (trans: Pordage S 1684) Dr. Willis’s Practice of physick. Dring, London

Download references

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Gould for her suggestions on the section on Joseph Altman. Portions of this article were published previously (Gross 1997, 1998b, 2000).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Charles G. Gross

Authors
  1. Charles G. Gross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles G. Gross.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gross, C.G. Three before their time: neuroscientists whose ideas were ignored by their contemporaries. Exp Brain Res 192, 321–334 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1481-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1481-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation