ABSTRACT
Early Life John Carew Eccles was born January 27, 1903, in Melbourne, Australia. His parents, William James and Mary (Carew) Eccles, were both teachers, and they carefully oversaw his early education. In 1919, Eccles entered Melbourne University to study medicine. At the university, he was not only an honors student but also a very successful athlete-particularly in tennis, cross-country racing, and pole-vaulting. While still an undergraduate, he began to think about questions concerning the relationship of mind and brain which would be the focus of his entire scientific career. His dream was to attend Oxford University and study with Sir Charles S. Sherrington, then the world's leading expert on the nervous system. In 1925, Eccles was graduated from Melbourne University with bachelor's degrees in science and medicine, taking firstclass honors in the latter. His academic dream was fulfilled when he received a Rhodes Scholarship, which permitted him to spend two years at Magdalen College, Oxford.
