Scientists, Instruments, and Even Brains in Transfer: German-Spanish Postwar Networks and the Construction of the Neuroendocrine System (1952-1960)

This article presents the process of relocation of hegemonies and "center-periphery" dynamics in neuroanatomy after World War II through the study of the links between the Spanish anatomical school of José Escolar García and some German institutions. We have analyzed their works on the morphology of the neuroendocrine system as a case study, showing how the first contacts of the Spaniards with the United States started a material transfer process between centers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean through the mediation-and adaptation-of the periphery. The case also shows how scientific networks in the "new" Europe were reestablished after the Nazi era and how important these systems were for the transfer of knowledge, using them for the circulation of experts, instruments, and even biological samples.