Gerald M. Edelman and his associate Rodney Porter received the 1972 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies. Edelman used these discoveries to draw conclusions not only about the immune system but about the nature of consciousness as well.

Born in New York City on July 1, 1929, to Edward Edelman, a physician, and Anna Freedman Edelman, Gerald Maurice Edelman attended New York City public schools through high school. After graduating, he entered Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where he received his B.S. in chemistry in 1950. Four years later, he earned an M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Medical School, spending a year as medical house officer at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In 1955 Edelman joined the United States Army Medical Corps, practicing general medicine while stationed at a hospital in Paris. Following his 1957 discharge from the Army, Edelman returned to New...