CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

  1.  Setting the Stage: The Neuron Doctrine and the Synapse

  2.  The Autonomic Nervous System: Testing Drugs on Visceral Organs and Skeletal Muscles

  3.  An Idea Ahead of Its Time: The First Hint at the Existence of Chemical Neurotransmitters

  4.  Henry Dale: Laying the Foundation

  5.  Otto Loewi: An Inspired Dream and a Speculative Leap

  6.  The Road to the Nobel Prize

  7.  Walter Cannon: A Near Miss by America’s Most Renowned Physiologist

  8.  The War of the Soups and the Sparks

  9.  Loewi, Dale, and Cannon: The Later Years

10.  Brain Neurotransmitters: A New Continent to Explore

11.  Epilogue: Some Final Reflections

Notes

Index