This superbly illustrated book gives insights into the political and medical background of the history of the mid to late 19th century scientific efforts in Europe. The biographies of Axel Key and Alfred Nobel among others are artfully intertwined within this history. Focusing on the struggle for recognition by Axel Key for the Karolinska Institute, the book also describes the intimate relationships of academia in promoting their dreams to fruition. Axel Key, a professor of pathology at the Karolinska Institute and the main player in this book, takes us on an exciting, informative historical romp through Europe, describing in detail his meetings with the most eminent scientists of the era whose names have become household in every facet of medicine today - one of the most prominent of which was Alfred Nobel. After Nobel’s death, Axel Key played a decisive role in the final implementation of his will and the association of the Karolinska Institute with the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The text is laced with literally hundreds of tiny, albeit very interesting details of considerable significance. The appendix must be given special attention as it provides biographies of all the numerous scientists who are mentioned in the book - fascinating data hard to find in current reference books. This book is a must not only for neuroscientists and historians but also for physicians all around the world who are interested in the history of medicine, the Karolinska Institute, and the two Swedish contemporaries Axel Key and Alfred Nobel. It provides enjoyable and informative reading, and, with a large number of portraits, it puts faces to the nerves, cells, microbes and diseases that have been named after their famous discoverers. (A Karger ""Publishing Highlights 1890–2015"" title.)