Imagining the Elephant: A Biography of Allan MacLeod Cormack - Softcover

Vaughan, Christopher L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860949886 ISBN 13: 9781860949883

Publisher: Icp, 2008

Synopsis

Imagining the Elephant is a biography of Allan MacLeod Cormack, a physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979 for his pioneering contributions to the development of the computer-assisted tomography (Cat) scanner, an honor he shared with Godfrey Hounsfield. A modest genius who was also a dedicated family man, the book is a celebration of Cormack's life and work. It begins with his ancestral roots in the far north of Scotland, and then chronicles his birth and early years in South Africa, his education at the University of Cape Town (Uct) and Cambridge University, and his subsequent academic appointments at Uct and Tufts University in Boston, Usa. It details his discovery of the problem at Cape Town in 1956, traces his scientific footsteps all the way to Stockholm in December 1979, and then extends the odyssey to his pursuits beyond the Nobel Prize.

About this title

About the Author

Professor Christopher (Kit) Vaughan is director of the MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, which conducts world-class research in medical imaging that addresses the healthcare needs of Africa.

Review

The introduction of the CAT scanner led to a major revolution in clinical medicine, and subsequent developments of the underlying principle of tomography and associated brain imaging techniques has led to further crucial medical developments as well as important discoveries concerning the way the brain functions. This meticulous biography sets out in detail the life of Alan Cormack, who first conceived of the use of tomography in medical contexts, and demonstrated it in a pilot experiment at the University of Cape Town in September 1957. The author takes great pains to set out this important story in its full personal, historical, and scientific context, including the award of the Nobel Prize to Cormack in 1979. The book provides a welcome exposition of the nature of scientific discovery in a particular important case. -- George F R Ellis, University of Cape Town, South Africa

The introduction of the CAT scanner led to a major revolution in clinical medicine, and subsequent developments of the underlying principle of tomography and associated brain imaging techniques has led to further crucial medical developments as well as important discoveries concerning the way the brain functions. This meticulous biography sets out in detail the life of Alan Cormack, who first conceived of the use of tomography in medical contexts, and demonstrated it in a pilot experiment at the University of Cape Town in September 1957. The author takes great pains to set out this important story in its full personal, historical, and scientific context, including the award of the Nobel Prize to Cormack in 1979. The book provides a welcome exposition of the nature of scientific discovery in a particular important case. --George F R Ellis, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Edition details

• Publisher: Icp
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1860949886
• ISBN 13: 9781860949883
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324