Why Scientists Are Still Fascinated By Phineas Gage

In the grand scheme of things, there aren't many ordinary, everyday people who have names remembered by historians, psychologists, and medical professionals alike. Unless, that is, something extraordinary happens to them. The extraordinary certainly happened to Phineas Gage on September 13, 1848. Unfortunately for Gage, the powers-that-be decided to go...

Phineas Gage has been called "neuroscience's most famous patient." On September 14, 1848, the railroad foreman suffered a grusome accident that seems completely impossible to survive. As Sam Kean wrote for Slate in 2014, Gage and his crew were working near Cavendish, Vermont. He became momentarily distracted while tamping gunpowder down...

British philosopher James Allen once said, "There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice." This maxim is particularly true in the realm of science. Every time modern scientists make a breakthrough, they are building off of the intellectual labor of thousands of other scientists who came before them. But some scientists sacrifice more than others...

Not so very long ago, doctors thought disease was caused by an imbalance of "humors," which consisted of two different disgusting types of bile, the stuff that collects in the back or your throat when you have a cold, and blood. Oh and everything could be cured with leeches. Today we know better, mostly. The medical mysteries of the past are the vaccinations...

Scientists: They're way smarter than most people, and they see the world in a different way and ultimately change it...for better or worse. Sometimes, it's a crapshoot which way it's going to go, but science is always moving the world into a new place and it's being driven by some of the strangest people in the world. Reassured? Didn't think so...