The War of the Soups and the Sparks: The Discovery of Neurotransmitters and the Dispute Over How Nerves Communicate

By: Valenstein and Elliot S.

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Synopsis: The War of the Soups and the Sparks tells the engaging story of the dispute between the pharmacologists who uncovered the first evidence that nerves communicate by releasing chemicals and the neurophysiologists who dismissed the proof and remained committed to electrical explanations. At the center of the story are the neuroscientist Otto Loewi and the pharmacologist Henry Dale, who received Nobel Prizes for their work, and the physiologist Walter Cannon, who would have shared the prize if he had not been persuaded to adopt a controversial theory. Expertly researched and recounted, The War of the Soups and the Sparks is the absorbing and enlightening tale of an immensely consequential scientific discovery.