The meeting of Einstein with Cajal (Madrid, 1923): a lost tide of fortune

• Published in: Revista de neurologiá Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 113 - 117
• Main Author: Montes-Santiago, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Spain 16-07-2006
• Subjects: History, 20th Century; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Neuroanatomy; Nobel Prize; Physics; Spain; Spain
• ISSN: 0210-0010
• DOI: 10.33588/rn.4302.2005813

The year 2005 was the centennial year of the Albert Einstein's transcendental works that changed forever the humans thoughts on the universe. It is also celebrated the 50th anniversary of his death. It was proclaimed 'World Year of Physics' and a multiplicity of celebrations have exhaustively analyzed Einstein's cardinals contributions. However, among these, the meeting of Einstein with another titanic of science, Santiago Ramon y Cajal, has passed some unnoticed. In this study the circumstances of this meeting are evoked.
The parallelisms between the lives of both prominent figures awarded with the Nobel Prize are highlighted. They are the 'classic' authors most widely cited in the current scientific literature. The events and persons who made possible that shining but forgotten interview are detailed. Such a meeting took place in Madrid, on the occasion of the Einstein's trip to Spain in 1923. That travel exceeded his primary scientific nature, reaching the category of a social phenomenon and was widely covered by the printed mass media at that time. Finally, the curious coincidence of the invocation of Cajal's theories to justify the genius of the German physicist nearly 75 years after their meeting is mentioned.
Although it was a brief meeting and the circumstances surrounding it largely unknown, it produced a great impression to Einstein and constitutes a supreme instant in the history of the 20th century.