title: Chance, creativity, and the discovery of the nerve growth factor.
abstract: This essay analyzes the history of the Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) discovery, relating some of the principles of the theory of scientific creativity to the cognitive and personal qualities of the scientists that participated in the discovery, particularly Rita Levi-Montalcini and Viktor Hamburger. The discovery of NGF is especially attractive for the history of science as it involves chance, luck, creativity, and some extraordinary scientists.
authors.affiliation: Department of the History and Philosophy of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UNAM, Laboratory of the History of Medicine, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Del Tlalpan, CP, Mexico. ceciliar@servidor.unam.mx
authors.forename: Ana Cecilia Rodríguez
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Romo
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000266:history*; D003405:Creativity; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000266:history*; D011336:Probability
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors