Jan Evangelista Purkinje, a brilliant, multifaceted Czech biologist: nerve tissue.

Resumo

Jan Evangelista Purkinje was a Czech physician with an exceptional capacity
for innovative thinking, and he was one of the fathers of experimental physiology, experimental pharmacology, experimental psychology,
histology, embryology, and physical anthropology. Several  achievements are named after him, from his prodigious productivity. Of special interest of this paper was his pioneering role in the rise of experimental physiology, microscopical anatomy, and histological methods by the 1830´s that allowed him define more accurate data concerning the structure of nerve tissue of animals and humans such as the now known ”Purkinje’s cells” and others cells of the brain. He investigated the structure of neuronal processes, including the dendrites. Purkinje recognized possible functional differences between a variety of types of neurons and speculated about their interrelations. He was one of the great geniuses of science.