Mind/Matter: The Panel

In conjunction with the closing of Yale Peabody Museum’s acclaimed exhibition Mind/Matter: The Neuroscience of Perception, Attention, and Memory, the Wu Tsai Institute and Peabody invite you to a special closing event exploring one of the most pivotal and poignant rivalries in the history of brain science.

Titled "Mind/Matter: The Panel", this panel brings to life the dramatic and transformative story of Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Two towering figures whose opposing views on the nervous system sparked a scientific revolution. Their tension (professional, philosophical, and profoundly human) helped define the structure of modern neuroscience.

Welcome remarks from Daniel Colón-Ramos, neuroscientist, WTI Associate Director, and curator of Mind/Matter, whose research bridges structure, memory, and meaning in the nervous system.

Panel hosted by renowned science writer Carl Zimmer, whose work unpacks the mysteries of biology for global audiences, will moderate a dynamic conversation with:

· Paolo Mazzarello, neurologist and historian of medicine, author of The Hidden Structure, the definitive biography of Golgi

· Benjamin Ehrlich, literary science writer and author of The Brain in Search of Itself, the celebrated biography of Cajal

Together, they will trace the story of how two rival visions (Golgi’s reticular theory and Cajal’s neuron doctrine) shaped our understanding of the brain, with insights into the artistic, political, and scientific stakes that still echo today.

This is a rare opportunity to hear from the world’s leading biographers of Golgi and Cajal in conversation with one of neuroscience’s most thoughtful experimentalists.

Host or Publisher Yale Peabody Museum and New Haven Museum