In modern times, in the search for the basic mechanisms of epilepsy, the early concepts of global brain disturbance have been replaced by consideration of the behavior of the neurons as individuals. This approach is comparatively recent, for neurons in the brain were identified only just over a century ago. In this account the unfolding of our knowledge of the brain cell and of its processes and synaptic relationships is followed through the years, with emphasis on the classic experiments that have revealed the aberrations of structure, of circuitry, and of electrical characteristics that mar the epileptic brain.