I simply can't stop admiring the contribution of Dr. Allan Hodgkin and Dr. Andrew Huxley to the field of Neuroscience. Their amazing work with squid axons is an classical example of the success of the experimental approach in biology. It is also illustrative of the multidisciplinary approach to neurscience that has yielded rich dividends. Their description of the ionic basis of action potentials in neuronal membranes is indeed a major landmark in the history of Neuroscience. The quantitative model (a mathematical description) of the action potential that they developed marks the birth of computational neurobiology which has added an exciting element to the field of neuroscience. It is indeed very rare that such a precise and convincing explanation is discovered for a fundamental phenomenon. The early 1950s were indisputably some of the most exciting yeras for science in general and bilology in particular. Even as Hodgkin and Huxley where discovering the basis of the electrical signals that the brain uses to perform its amazing feats, Watson and Crick were cracking the structure of DNA - the very essence of life. More than 50 years after these seminal discoveries, scientists still continue to expolre their implications for the understanding of life and all its mysteries. For those who are interested in reading more about these great men of science, may I recommend a visit to the following sites...
More about Hodgkin
More about Huxley
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