Robert Remak was born at Posen (Poznan), Poland on July 26, 1815; he died at Kissingen, Bavaria on August 29, 1865. He was a pioneer in neuroanatomy and neuro-embryology. Remak studied at the University of Berlin under Johannes Múller. He graduated in 1838, having written a very important thesis. He then became an unpaid assistant to Múller, supporting himself by general practice. From 1843 to 1847, he served as assistant to Johann Lukas Schonlein (1793 to 1864; founder of the Natural History School which proposed to study medicine as descriptive botany and zoology are studied), who was then physician at the Charité clinic in Berlin. In 1847, he became Privatdocent (an unsalaried professor paid directly by students) in the University of Berlin, and in 1859 was promoted to Associate Professor.

In 1836 Remak obtained a compound microscope, and subsequently published two papers on the nervous system based on work he did with it, even before...