Alec Wilkinson

Alec Wilkinson, a longtime contributor to The New Yorker, is the author, most recently, of A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age. (February 2023)

Illuminating the Brain’s ‘Utter Darkness’

A new biography considers the peculiar life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, whose discovery that nerve cells are individual completely overthrew the existing theory of the brain.

The Brain in Search of Itself: Santiago Ramón y Cajal and the Story of the Neuron

by Benjamin Ehrlich

Spark: The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life

by Timothy J. Jorgensen

February 9, 2023 issue

New York Review subscription offer with free calendar

Give the gift they’ll open all year.

Save 65% off the regular rate and over 75% off the cover price and receive a free 2025 calendar!