Viktor Hamburger at 100: eight decades of neuroembryological research, 1920–2000

Born on 9 July 1900, in Landeshut, Silesia, then a province of Germany, Viktor Hamburger has been a leader in the fields of embryology, neuroembryology and developmental neurobiology for more than half a century. In a career spanning over 80 years, he has made major contributions to diverse fields of developmental biology and neurobiology, including axon growth and pathway formation, synaptogenesis, cell death, neurotrophic factors, central-peripheral neuronal interactions, limb and muscle differentiation, congenital defects, regeneration, developmental genetics, evolution, and the ontogeny of behavior and neurophysiology. He has also contributed important historical perspectives on key figures in the development of experimental embryology and neuroembryology (see his accompanying bibliography). To one, who has not lived through the tumultuous social and cultural changes and scientific advances of the 20th century, it is difficult to fully appreciate the unique perspective that such an experience offers. Having experienced directly or indirectly the rise of fascism, two world wars, the holocaust, the sinking of the Titanic and Lusitania, and the molecular revolution, as well as the many other momentous social, scientific and technological changes over the past 100 years, conversations with Viktor provide a kind of living history that has long been cherished by his many friends and colleagues. However, longevity alone is not what makes Viktor such an engaging figure. Rather it is his important scientific contributions and the many years of educating students, coupled with a warm, charming and generous personality (and of course, longevity) that are the characteristics, we wish to honor here.