The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramon Y Cajal

　　★美國亞馬遜書店讀者五顆星高度評價推薦

　　★腦神經與藝術史類，跨界雙榜暢銷TOP5！

　　★讀者好評盛讚「這本書是獻給這位被世人遺忘的天才科學家，最棒的禮物！」



　　「從顯微鏡底下觀看大腦，就像帶著一本寫生簿，走進一片有數以億棵樹的森林中。

　　我的工作就是每天看著這些彼此盤根錯節的樹群模糊影像，

　　並試著為這片森林，寫一本附有插畫的田野調查指南。」───卡哈爾



　　◆卡哈爾───醫學成果&藝術成就，同步登峰造極的罕見天才

　

　　聖地亞哥．拉蒙．卡哈爾，1852年出生於西班牙，因發現大腦細胞是由個別獨立的「神經元」構成，發展出影響後世腦神經研究的「單一神經元學說」著稱，他也因此在1906年獲頒諾貝爾醫學獎，奠定他在神經科學領域的教父地位。



　　卡哈爾不僅是一位優秀的科學家，其畢生致力於研究大腦，繪有超過3000幅大腦神經系統的圖稿，而這些醫學研究文件，意外被視為具備高度美學層次和文化價值的創作，使他躋身為傑出藝術家之列。



　　◆3000多幅手繪解剖圖稿，完整度與精準度至今無人能敵



　　在卡哈爾所處的年代，影像工具技術尚未發達，但是他卻能透過簡易顯微鏡的肉眼觀察和記憶力，描繪、剖析大腦的各種結構與推論假說。直到今日經過比對，卡哈爾所畫的大腦神經元解剖圖，與後來運用電腦科技所成像之結構，誤差極小；現在仍繼續使用於教材或學術期刊之中。



　　◆最詩意的人體解剖圖，展現了自然主義與人文哲思



　　用「繪畫表達思想」是達文西在文藝復興時代裡，為藝術界留下的一項傳承：畫家不只再現自然，而是用雙眼所察，融入自身的人文思想，重現於繪畫中；這種隱藏於繪畫中的哲思，同樣存在於卡哈爾的手繪稿中：運用墨色濃淡、線條粗細或大小比例，讓生硬的醫學觀察，展現出豐富的藝術內涵。



　　◆影響超現實主義，啟發了達利、布紐爾



　　卡哈爾的手繪稿，不僅是科學史上的重要成就，在藝術家眼中更是難能可貴的創作，尤其是超現實主義者，例如達利、佛多里柯與布紐爾等人，皆能在他們的作品中，窺見卡哈爾圖像的痕跡；他們的共同點，就是把「把夢境轉化到紙上，把鉛筆當成魔杖，天馬行空地創造自己的奇幻世界。」



　　在《大腦之美》中，收錄卡哈爾82幅珍貴的經典手繪稿，包括經典的大腦皮質內角錐型神經元的「描寫」，和視網膜神經迴路內訊息傳遞的驚人圖示；亦根據大腦細胞、感知系統、神經元路徑，以及發展和病理學分類，手繪稿內容多元豐富。此外，還有來自神經科學與藝術評論專家的文章，讓讀者可以從更多面向，認識這位20世紀初傑出的跨領域科學藝術家。



　　本文取自采實出版《大腦之美》

At the crossroads of art and science, TheBeautiful Brain presents Nobel Laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s contributions to neuroscience through his groundbreaking artistic brain imagery.

＂Among the world’s greatest scientific illustrations. . . . They posit the thing between your ears as an immense cosmic universe, or at least one of the most intricate of all of nature’s creations. That the images are also undeniable as art only adds to the complexity.＂ --New York Times

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) was the father of modern neuroscience and an exceptional artist. He devoted his life to the anatomy of the brain, the body’s most complex and mysterious organ. His superhuman feats of visualization, based on fanatically precise techniques and countless hours at the microscope, resulted in some of the most remarkable illustrations in the history of science.

This selection of Cajal’s exquisite drawings of brain cells, brain regions, and neural circuits features accessible descriptive commentary, explored in the text from multiple perspectives:

• Larry W. Swanson describes Cajal’s contributions to neuroscience
• Lyndel King and Eric Himmel explore his artistic roots and achievement
• Eric A. Newman provides commentary on the drawings
• Janet M. Dubinsky describes contemporary neuroscience imaging techniques

This book is the companion to the traveling exhibition that marked the first time that many of these works, which are housed at the Instituto Cajal in Madrid, have been seen outside of Spain.

In addition to showcasing Cajal’s contributions to neuroscience and exploring his artistic roots and achievement, The Beautiful Brain looks at his work in relation to contemporary neuroscience imaging, appealing to general readers and professionals alike.

Larry W. Swanson is the author of Brain Architecture (2012) and a past President of the Society for Neuroscience. He is a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California. Eric A. Newman, Alfonso Araque, and Janet Dubinsky are distinguished neuroscientists at the University of Minnesota. Lyndel King is the director and chief curator of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis. Eric Himmel is editor in chief at Abrams Books, New York.