The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography

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The chapters of Volume 12 of The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography published by the Society for Neuroscience and edited by Tom Albright and Larry R. Squire are freely accessible on the SfN website: https://www.sfn.org/about/history-of-neuroscience/autobiographical-chapters

It was an honor to be invited to contribute a chapter to this volume. The autobiographies of the authors of scientific papers I read as a graduate student, ones that influenced the direction of my scientific career, are found in early volumes of this collection. A pdf of my chapter in Volume 12 can be downloaded by using this link: https://tinyurl.com/4rhr5mu2

Writing the chapter was one of the projects that occupied my time while living alone in my “cave” during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jennifer Groh and Shari Hatch provided helpful comments on an early version of the chapter.

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.