The riveting true story of the star-crossed friendship between two neuroscientists—one famous, the other forgotten—who mapped the brain, but lost each other.

In 1924, when brain surgery was still in its infancy and more of a death sentence than a cure, Dr. Wilder Penfield met Dr. William Cone at New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital. The two men, who could not have been more different in personality or appearance, were quickly drawn to each other by their fascination with the “undiscovered country” inside our heads.

Globe and Mail journalist Eric Andrew-Gee unfurls a rich history of the partnership that birthed the world-renowned Montreal Neurological Institute and revolutionized the study of the human mind. While Cone labored anonymously in the trenches of The Neuro, spending long hours at patients’ bedsides and in the blood-spattered operating room, Penfield pursued the loftier goal of discovering the seat of consciousness. He went on to develop the Montreal procedure for treating epilepsy, which helped identify the source of speech, executive function, and memory in narrow slivers of grey matter.

Under Penfield and Cone’s leadership, The Neuro grew into a hotbed for neurological study, attracting men and women from across the globe to a thriving mid-century Montreal, including the first Chinese, Indian, Arab, and African-American neurosurgeons. But it was at the cost of their friendship, which became fraught with personal and professional hurts—and suddenly ended when Cone was found dead in his office at the age of 62.

In this compelling, meticulously researched dual biography, Andrew-Gee breathes new life into a familiar hero and revives the oft-forgotten, tragic story of his partner. In doing so, he writes Dr. William Cone back into the historical record and reveals the untold story of the birthplace of neuroscience.

Eric Andrew-Gee's profile page

Eric Andrew-Gee is the Quebec correspondent for The Globe and Mail, based in Montreal, and a former staff reporter for the Toronto Star. He is the winner of two National Newspaper Awards. His work has appeared in magazines including The Walrus, Toronto Life, and The New Republic. This is his first book.