Life in the Year 6000

Book excerpt: From the pen of the versatile Spanish Nobel Laureate, Santiago Ram�n y Cajal (1852-1934), the visionary of science, also known as the "Don Quixote of the Microscope," comes this unfinished fantasy dream, written around 1880. The text appears in English for the first time, accompanied by a brief editorial annotation. Inspired by Claude Bernard's discussion of the 'resurrection' of Rotifera and Tardigrada, Cajal dreams of having stayed inside a forgotten coffin as a desiccated spore; he awakens after an earthquake, becomes rehydrated by a rain shower, and meets Doctor Micrococcus, a 61st-century physician, who hosts and guides him. The two enter into a quasi-Socratic dialogue on matters of science, medicine, politics, nutrition, happiness, and education.