Butterfly to the Soul - Essay Example

Santiago Ramón y Cajal was a prominent scientist who received Nobel Prize for his discoveries in neuroscience. He is said to be the pioneer of neuroscience actually as he was not only among the first biologists who studied brain structure under the microscope but the one who managed to depict this structure in his drawings. Thus, he became famous as a delicate and sophisticated artist who created almost 12.000 images of different cells of the brain. Cajal stated that “only artists are attracted to science” that is why he tried to blur the borders between scientific and artistic interest.

He thought that only due to his passion with art he became what he became. To Santiago Ramon human brain was a real masterpiece and the source of inspiration (DeFlelipe, 2010). I agree with the scientist that human brain is not only interesting but also beautiful in its own way and that the exploration of the brain has paramount meaning for human civilization as it will shed light on the genesis of thoughts, feelings, and will. Santiago Ramon compared himself to the entomologist who was fascinated by the butterflies in his own garden.

In the same way the scientist was attracted by the grey matter of the human brain. The cells reminded to the scientist butterflies whose wings were beating constantly and beautifully. In such a metaphor he tried to express the elegance and the charm of the delicate particles of human brain. Moreover, the scientist knew that the life, the energy of the person, is incorporated in his brain because it is brain that performs all the higher functions of human existence. So he thought that by discovering the mechanisms that constitute the basis for butterflies` wings beating (the work of cells) a human being will be able to solve the riddle of existence.

References DeFlipe, J. (2010). Cajal`s butterflies of the soul, A Journal of Neurology.