Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) is known as the founder of neurology in France and was one of the most versatile medical researchers of his times. At the climax of his career in the Salpêtrière in Paris he began to study the phenomenon of hysteria. Hysterical symptoms were very common in the late nineteenth century in Europe and were looked upon as a challenge to medical science. By means of accurate observation, Charcot managed to describe the distinct features of hysteria. The disease became an accepted medical entity and patients were less often regarded as simulators. Charcot presumed that the disease had a physical cause, and tried to prove this by means of patho-anatomical studies and later by experiment, with help of hypnosis. Charcot's despotic personality, the extraordinary circumstances at the Salpêtrière and the hysteric patients formed a fascinating setting that gives exemplary insight into the non-linear progress of medical science.