In Praise of “Natural History”

Theodore H. Bullock: pioneer of integrative and comparative neurobiology

Theodore H. Bullock (1905-2005) was a pioneer of integrative and comparative neurobiology and one of the founders of neuroethology. His work--distinguished by the tremendous number of different research themes and animal taxa studied--provided the basis for a comprehensive analysis of brain evolution. Among his major achievements are: one of the first physiological analyses of rhythmic central pattern generators; the first simultaneous recording from both the presynaptic and postsynaptic region of a chemical synapse; the demonstration of intercellular communication through graded potentials; and the discovery of two novel sensory organs formed by infrared receptors in pit vipers and electroreceptors in electric fish. He was also one of the first who applied computational tools to the analysis of complex neural signals and to perform a comparative analysis of cognitive events. His two-volume treatise "Structure and function in the nervous system of invertebrates" (with G. Adrian Horridge) remains the most comprehensive, authoritative review of this topic ever written. In addition to his research merits, his legacy is particularly based on his cosmopolitan way of thinking and acting, his large, worldwide school of students, and his committed advocacy for comparative and systems-oriented neurobiology.