Max Brödel

This biography tells the story of Max Brodel, the great medical artist, until now best known in specialized medical circles. He was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1870, and died in Baltimore, USA, in 1941 after a brilliant career at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. This book is based partly on unpublished writings of other well-known physicians at Johns Hopkins, such as Harvey Cushing, and partly on 19th- century family letters originally written in German script. The biographical information portrays Max Brodel's early development, his concept of a new way of seeing and depicting anatomical and medical information and his own descriptions of his technical methods. This book demonstrates examples of his magnificent medical illustrations to a wider audience for the first time. As founder and director of the first academic department of medical illustration at Johns Hopkins, Max Brodel was responsible for developing much of the philosophy and many of the techniques of medical illustration to be seen in today's scientific literature. His life story will be of interest to both medical professionals and others interested in art and the history of science and medicine.
This biography on the history of medicine is intended for physicians of all levels, medical illustrators and historians.