Emigrated as a child to the U.S.A. from the Bavarian Town of Nordlingen
Became a pharmacist and achieved some prosperity by inventing the first process for the mass producing of gelatin capsules
As a boy his main hobby was chemistry
With chemistry he discovered potassium chlorate and sugar mixture and set off a small cannon that rocked Outremont, and he released a hydrogen balloon that flew all the way to Sherbrooke
BACKGROUND & STUDIES
PART II
In 1947, he earned a BS at McGill University in honors mathematics and physics
Despite the fact that he never took a course in biology (even in high school), he applied to Medical School at McGill.
In 1951, he earned a MD at McGill University
WHAT DID HE DO?
Hubel spent many summers at the Montreal Neurological Institute where he became fascinated by the nervous system
On setting foot into the United States in 1954 for a Neurology year at Johns Hopkins he was prompted drafted by the army as a doctor, but he was lucky enough to be assigned to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Neuropsychiatric Division
MAJOR DISCOVERIES
His main project while at Walter Reed was a comparison of the spontaneous firing of single cortical cells in sleeping and waking cats. He began by recording the visual cortex: it seemed most sensible to look at a primary sensory area, and the visual was easiest, there being less muscle between the part of the brain and the outside world. It was first necessary to devise a method for recording from freely moving cats and to develop a tungsten microelectrode thoug enough to penetrate the dura. It took over a year to achieve this goal.
In 1958, he moved to the Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, to the laboratory of Stephen Kuffler, and there he began collaboration with Torsten Wiesel
AWARDS & HOBBIES
Thanks to the work of Hubel and Wiesel, the visual cortex has become the best known part of the brain
They shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981
His hobbies are flute, wookworking, photography, languages, astronomy, skiing, tennis and squash
