Iván Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) and Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) were two
major scientists who developed their work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Both won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with a short chronological difference:
Pavlov in 1904 and Cajal (shared with Camilo Golgi) in 1906[1]-[4].
There are similarities between their life and work. Since it is impossible to cover
the work of both, the authors have decided to delve into only one aspect: the Nobel
Prize won by both with only two years of difference, Pavlov:1904, and Cajal:1906[5],[6].
The historical context of these two characters was marked by a strong nationalism
in Europe, both in the second half of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, which tragically unleashed the First and Second World Wars. Nationalism
impacted on the scientific field, as a source of competition in achievements between
countries, for example, the Nobel prizes in science: Physiology or Medicine, Physics,
Chemistry, to their credit[7].
Pavlov and Cajal both belonged to empires in decline; Russia, the home country of
Pavlov, and Spain of Cajal. These two scientists, their Nobel prizes, and other distinctions
obtained by them, were also of the most significant importance[8],[9].
Cajal published in 1899 the first edition of his masterpiece "Texture of the nervous
system of man and vertebrates" only a year before the "Disaster of 98" occurred, caused
by the war between the United States of America and Spain. After a few naval battles,
all lost by Spain, the decadent empire asked to sign a peace treaty, yielding independence
to Cuba, and the cession of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States,
which became a colonial power[9].
Ivan Pavlov's extensive and productive investigative career took place in Tsarist
Russia and post-October 1917 Soviet Russia[8]. It was under the last two tsars, Alexander III and his son Nicholas II, that Pavlov
obtained his greatest glories, such as getting the seat of the Institute of Experimental
Medicine in Saint Petersburg, the honorable invitation to the conference in Madrid
in 1903 (where he probably met Cajal in person), and the summit: the Nobel Prize in
Medicine or Physiology, in 1904[3]. Before the fall of the Winter Palace, and although he did not agree so much with
Lenin's ideals, to his fortune, revolutionary support for his prestigious investigative
company was assured until he died in 1936. Thus, the famous and unstoppable Tower
of Silence continued to produce scientific research beyond the radical social and
economic changes that occurred due to the creation of the Soviet Union[10].
Regarding the Nobel Prize, the juries had difficulties awarding it to Pavlov in 1904,
his main competitor being Cajal[3], who, in turn, had managed to see very precisely the "butterflies of the soul,"
a name he chose for the cells of the nervous system, which the German pathologist
Heinrich Waldeyer (1836-1921) called neurons in 1901[11].
The controversy also had another ingredient. Many researchers worked alone, and Pavlov
was the first to research with his Ph.D. students at the St. Petersburg Institute
of Experimental Medicine. Some jurors had doubts about the originality of his work[8],[10]. However, once his way of working was thoroughly reviewed, they did not hesitate
to designate him as the winner in 1904: "in recognition of his work in the physiology
of digestion, through which knowledge on vital aspects of the matter have been transformed
and increased"[5]. The speech given by Pavlov on December 12th of that year was titled: "Physiology
of digestion"[4].
Pavlov went to Stockholm to receive the award, becoming the first Russian scientist
to obtain it. At 55, the scientist peaked his career: international recognition for
his work and financial compensation of 73,000 gold rubles (about $ 36,000 at the time).
He assigned it to his laboratory and future research[12],[13]. However, curiously, Pavlov seemed not to attach much importance to such recognition.
He never referred to it during the rest of his life, not even in his short autobiography.
But it was an important recognition for him, his collaborators, and the nation to
which he belonged[3].
Cajal, in turn, had become the leading exponent of the "neuronal doctrine," in opposition
to the "reticularists," who did not accept the existence of unicellular structures
in the nervous system[14]. Camilo Golgi, who in 1880 had discovered silver staining to visualize nerve cells,
was, paradoxically, a vigorous defender of the reticular theory. Cajal began to use
this modified stain (double silver impregnation) in 1887. Thus, the juries also had
difficulties and decided to award the prize in a shared way. The winners received
the award "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system." The
speech delivered in French by Cajal on December 12th of that year was entitled "Structure
and connections of neurons"[6],[15],[16]. The wise Aragonese would be the first Spaniard to receive the specific award in
Physiology or Medicine[17].
Jones (1998), cited by Grant[18], points out that Golgi may have thought there would be a struggle between his conference
and Cajal's. Having the opportunity to speak first, he misjudged the Spanish scientist's
position and would have ended up attacking him. This situation would explain the controversy
of his presentation. Nieto[19] points out that Golgi was so tense that he wanted to get to the Stockholm station
incognito. However, upon his arrival, a large group of people was waiting for him
on the platform, including Cajal. Golgi was very nervous; he avoided any gesture of
kindness with this one. According to Nieto, Golgi's attitude was because he was fully
aware of the lack of updating in the bibliography on histology of the nervous system
and was also concerned about a direct reply from Cajal to his speech. His state of
mind is reflected in a letter from his wife, Lina Golgi, to his mother: "Camilo would
run home like a runaway horse."
Finally, it would be the neural doctrine that ended up being accepted and the one
that prevails, in almost all its aspects, to this day.
