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Biographical Memoirs Volume 84 (2004) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 271-286

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From page 271...
... With his death modern neurocytology lost one of its founders. From the beginning of fine structural studies of the nervous system the high quality of electron micrographs produced by Sanford Palay set standards that others would strive to emulate, and he contributed much toward the interpretation of electron micrographs of the nervous system and the advancement of knowledge on the principles of organization of the nervous system.
From page 272...
... In 1940 he received his bachelor's degree in English from Oberlin College, a place for which he had such fond memories that he donated his collection of neuroscience journals and histological slides to the college. In 1940 he entered the School of Medicine at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve)
From page 273...
... He returned to Japan in 1978 for an extended period as a visiting professor at the University of Osaka. After leaving the Army in 1948 Sandy joined Albert Claude as a fellow at the Rockefeller Institute and spent the year examining the chromosomes of the salivary gland by electron microscopy.
From page 274...
... It was at this time that he began his definitive studies on the fine structure of the nervous system, and his first success in achieving good fixation of neurons was obtained by injecting osmic acid into the fourth ventricle of the rat, since here the motor cells of the abducens nucleus are close to the surface, as are the cells of the overlying cerebellum. The outcome was that in 1955 he and George Palade were able to publish a pioneering article in the first volume of the Journal of Biophysical and Biochemical Cytology (now the Journal of Cell Biology)
From page 275...
... While continuing to work on the brain fine structure, he began a study on intestinal villi and the pathway of fat absorption with his graduate student L
From page 276...
... . Sandy's interest in myelin had also been spurred by a visit from Harry Webster, who brought spectacular electron micrographs of myelinated peripheral nerve fibers.
From page 277...
... This enabled them to begin to better analyze the morphological features of various components of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and accumulate a large portfolio of electron micrographs illustrating the fine structure and principles of organization of the central nervous system, especially the cerebellar cortex. Sandy was deeply impressed by how images from Golgi-impregnated material could be used to analyze electron micrographs and became very fond of the Golgi method, of which there were few practitioners in the United States.
From page 278...
... They were a great comfort to Sandy in his waning years, and visits by his grandchildren, his daughter Victoria's two children, were always a particular joy to him. By the late 1960s a wide range of structures in the central and peripheral nervous systems had been examined by electron microscopy, and it was becoming possible to make generalized descriptions of the various neuronal and neuroglial components of the nervous system.
From page 279...
... The hope was that such a book would serve as a guide to help others in the analysis of electron micrographs and promote the understanding of the principles of organization of the entire nervous system. The first edition of The Fine Structure of the Nervous System was published in 1970 as a rather thin book of some 200 pages, but by the third edition in 1991 it had grown to about 500 pages, with over 130 plates, many of which continue to be reproduced in various text books.
From page 280...
... . Sandy was also a member of the editorial boards of a number of other journals, including the Journal of Cell Biology, Brain Research, Experimental Neurology, Anatomy and Embryology, Neuroscience, and Experimental Brain Research.
From page 281...
... S A N F O R D L O U I S P A L A Y 281 Boston College, where he offered a graduate course in the history of neuroscience. Even when his health started to decline Sandy continued to teach this course, with the students coming to his home in Concord.
From page 282...
... The fine structure of neurons.
From page 283...
... The Fine Structure of the Nervous System: The Cells and Their Processes. New York: Hoeber-Harper.
From page 284...
... The Fine Structure of the Nervous System: The Neurons and Their Supporting Cells.
From page 286...
... International SIL of courtesy Photo


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