Bio-Blasts from the Past

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[pinball1970]

William Hooker was born on 6th July in 1785. He established the Herbarium at Kew.

 

[pinball1970]

Camillo Golgi (of Golgi apparatus) born on this day 1843.

TIL. I actually thought "Golgi" was Latin or Greek for some structure/shape as is the way with anatomy and cell Biology.

More recently 7.7.2000 Was the first draft of the HGP.

 

[BillTre]

Camillo Golgi (of Golgi apparatus) born on this day 1843.

TIL. I actually thought "Golgi" was Latin or Greek for some structure/shape as is the way with anatomy and cell Biology.

Golgi was Italian I believe.
Besides discovering the Golgi Complex, Golgi came up with the Golgi stain which fills a subset of neurons with silver deposits, but leaving most unlabelled. This lets the cell's shape to be seen in great detail in a microscope. Cajal (Spanish) used the Golgi stain extensively in early studies of the nervous system and its development. People love his anatomical drawings to this day. Cajal and Golgi had two different ideas of how the nervous system developed. Cajal was right right and Golgi was not. They shared a Nobel prize but had a strong dislike for each other. Golgi got it for the staining method and Cajal for his studies of the nervous system.
Here is a reference describing their interactions.
Cajal also wrote an autobiography which is quite entertaining.