We were awestruck by the newly released Beautiful Brain,a companion book to a traveling exhibition showcasing hand-drawn notebook renderings by the father of modern neuroscience, Santiago Ramón y Cajal. The exhibition is the very first peek at Cajal's extraordinary drawings here in the US and is a mind-bending look at the way neurons, the building blocks of our brain, spinal column and nervous system, communicate with one another. Cajal theorized that neurons are in touch without touching and this process of synaptic messaging came to be called the Neuron Doctrine earning him the Nobel Prize in 1906 for his painstaking research. What we love most about Cajal's story is the fact that his groundbreaking discoveries changed the world by using just two tools including the most powerful telescope he could find and one of the oldest art techniques know to mankind: drawing. We can thank Cajal for devoting his life to the anatomy of the brain and his ability to visualize resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science. Enjoy just a handful of Cajal's striking drawings of brain cells, brain regions, and neural circuits included in Beautiful Brain below and if you're in New York City check out the work up close and personal until March 31st at NYU's Grey Art Gallery.
