Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-310) and index.

From the beginnings to the cell theory -- Do nerve cells belong in the cell theory? -- Nerve cells or nerve nets? -- Kölliker gives in -- Support builds for network -- The nerve cell studies of Freud -- The revolutionary method of Golgi -- A neuron theory begins to take form : His, Forel, Nansen -- Ramón y Cajal: the shock of recognition -- The early discoveries of Cajal -- The laws of Cajal -- Joining the mainstream -- The neuron doctrine -- The law of dynamic polarization -- Controversy -- The synapse and the growth cone -- Forging a consensus -- Confrontation in Stockholm -- Modern revisions of the neuron doctrine.