Overview

The book is a developed history of the radiological sciences – covering the back-story to Röntgen’s discovery, the discovery itself and immediate reception the early days of radiology leading to classical radiology (the pre-digital world). The 1970s as the ‘golden decade’ of radiology will be covered in detail, with the development of CT, MRI and modern interventional radiology. It will appeal to interested members of the public, to those working in the field, and to historians of medicine and science.

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9780367344269

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Reviews

Dr Michael Jackson the author of this interesting new book is a radiologist with an interest in art both classical and modern. In this new book he has set about exploring the relationships and unusual interfaces between modern diagnostic imaging and artworks from various eras. The exploration covers not just paintings but also the modern media such as cinema which today borrows from ideas emanating from modern imaging technology. A chapter on visual neurophysiology serves to remind us of the complexities of the perceptual process on which image appreciation and analysis all ultimately depend. The breadth of western art has been fertile material for analysis. We are taken on a journey from historical cave paintings, Egyptian art, through to the development of perspective in art with examples from Durer in Germany through to the Renaissance painters well versed in anatomy who depicted the human body in astonishing detail in their painted dissected studies of the body which today can be reproduce from modern CT scanning technology. Examples of the anatomical drawings from Vesalius and other ecorche examples of religious iconography demonstrated the interfaces of anatomy and art with modern imaging. Picasso interestingly dabbled with bizarre perspectives in his artistic portrayals of the body and provided much material for analysis. Modern artists have explored art and radiology with many being inspired from radiological studies and images especially MRI and CT angiographic studies of the brain. Others such as Hugh Turvey have used radiography as a tool to create artistic images. An analysis of the interface of radiology and cinema is illustrated with the film 'The Man of Steel' about Superman who has X-ray powers but other films such as the Avengers franchise and Transformer films have also tapped radiology resources to provide entertainment. Dr Jackson has used a vast range of illustrated source material from art, cartography, religious iconography, medical history, television, cinema and journalism and personal anecdotes to synthesise a smorgasbord of diverse subject areas into a very enjoyable and readable account of his thesis that the foundations of our modern image interpretation were laid by the works of artists, painters and scientists of yesteryear. All connected with medical imaging will find something of interest in this volume. - Dr Arpan K Banerjee, Chair, The International Society for the History of Radiology (ISHRAD).

Author Information

Dr Adrian Thomas is a writer and teacher. He has seen the development of modern radiology during his career, entering medical school at University College London in 1972, the year that the CT scanner was announced. He has had an interest in history since his school days; studying medical history with Jonathan Miller, Edwin Clarke and Bill Bynum at University College London for his BSc. Adrian started his radiology training in 1981 at Hammersmith Hospital, which coincided with their pioneering development of the MRI scanner. He is a founder member and past-president of the British Society for the History of Radiology. He has co-authored 7 books and written many book chapters. He is past-president of the British Society for the History of Medicine, past-president of the Radiology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, is Honorary Historian to the British Institute of Radiology, and is a visiting professor at Canterbury Christ Church University.

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