The Eyes Have It

A comprehensive, rich-media site devoted to John Snow, the 19th century epidemiologist known for using a map of London to graphically portrait the pattern of deaths caused by a cholera outbreak. This data supported his theory that the disease spread via water (a theory that was by no means widely accepted by the medical community at the time). He removed the handle of a pump that his map pointed to as the source of contaminated water. The outbreak abated. More recent readings of the events suggest that the outbreak was on the wane anyway. There are many nicely presented graphics and a thoughtful user interface on this site which was created and designed by Ralph R. Frerichs of UCLA’s Department of Epidemiology.

These Russian Anti-Alcohol Posters are graphically strong enough wordlessly deliver a message, but I still wish the text elements were translated. A little background material would also be nice, I can’t help but wonder how effective they were.

“This is my story about getting cancer for the second time. What a bummer of a way to start the new millennium! Anyway, I wanted to document this go around with cancer in a unique way. And you know what that meant! Yeah, PINHOLE!

Be mystified and intrigued and enjoy the show!”

[via consumptive]

This site, an instructor’s resource offered by McGraw-Hill Higher Education, contains more than 150 images, charts, tables and graphs. Since the graphic design of the material is pretty generic, it should fit nicely into most presentations without sticking out like a sore thumb. CAUTION: I got a 404 error instead of the terms of use page so use at your own risk until you can determine what’s legally permitted. As is to be expected, some of the graphics are, well, pretty graphic (in a high school health class sort of way) and may not be safe for work.

[SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC] I just signed up with Ryze. I made this home page and invited a couple of friends to join. Before I get too into this and send a bunch of invites, I’d like to get some feedbacks from other members (or past members) about their experiences with it. Even though it seems to be getting good press, I’m a little concerned. Is it a spam machine? A waste of time? Will the people I sent the invites to get spammed? Or is it, I hope, a really useful way to make some contacts. Any information you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.

While exhibiting a highly developed flair for the well-place pun, Vail Reese MD takes us on a dermatological Hollywood epic that includes skin conditions used to convey evil, actors with skin conditions and realistic depiction of skin findings. The site seems to be kept very up to date and includes images from recently released films as well as those still in production.

“As a dermatologist and a film buff, I’ve found a series of skin conditions featured in movies. All of the films listed are readily available on home video. Peruse at your leisure and let me know what you think. You may look at movies in a new way.“

“The contributions of science and technology to the art of painting have been incalculable. They can be seen in the composition of the stuff of painting — the paints, the papers, the canvasses — the preservation of paintings, and even where painting takes place, since it was the development of the tube that allowed painters to port their paints into the open air — a shift of venue that provided the impetus for the Impressionist movement.

Not content with simply accepting these munificent contributions, the painters have also seized upon Science and Technology as subjects for their works.

We’ve assembled two dozen of these works to show here. They have been divided into seven categories. You can jump to a category by clicking on a topic title; you can reach an artist by clicking on a name; or you can see everything in sequence by just scrolling down.“

[via dublog]

Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization. An illustrated chronology of innovations by Michael Friendly and Daniel J. Denis.

[via sophismata]

Xeni’s call for SARS Art on BoingBoing (mentioned here a couple weeks ago) has grown into a full-blown project.

“Online art and weblogs are cheap, instant, and capable of reaching millions worldwide. Combined, they become a powerful way for individuals to explore, debate, and express the personal emotional impact of meta-events taking place in the world around them. They make what’s global, personal; what’s personal, global. The immediacy and accessibility of digital art is a powerful, equalizing force that brings cultural dialogue out of the galleries, out of the museums, and onto the desktops and mobile screens of ordinary people everywhere.“

Historical Anatomies on the Web is another great project from the National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Division.

From the introduction:

“Historical Anatomies on the Web is a digital project designed to give Internet users access to high quality images from important anatomical atlases in the Library’s collection. The project offers selected images from NLM’s atlas collection, not the entire books, with an emphasis on images and not texts. Atlases and images are selected primarily for their historical and artistic significance, with priority placed upon the earliest and/or the best edition of a work in NLM’s possession.“

They also list almost 25 other titles they plan on adding to the site as the project evolves.

[Thanks Mr. Cieciel]

John Gruber’s recent post, Take Your TrackBacks and Dangle, inspired me to create a poor man’s, one way TrackBack using Technorati (I tried to post the code I inserted in my template to make this work, but Blogger seems to ignore the pre, samp and code tags).

If you click on “[Get Technorati cosmos for this post]” above each post, a new window will open and you’ll see any and all blogs linking to that post. It wasn’t until I actually set this up that I realized the few links I do have are all to TEHI in general and none seem to be to specific posts.

Images and text celebrating the first 100 years of seeing with “The New Light”.

“With easy access to the necessary equipment, radiology was also the first medical field to make full use of photographs in advertising, texts, and clinical work. We are fortunate to have a wealth of images documenting these earliest years.“

Watercolor and colored pencil illustration for an article on steak and heart disease by Andrice Arp.

[via Cup of Chicha]

(Believe me, it took a while to decide whether or not to post this one.) The Visible Barbie Project is Trygve Lode’s send up of the Visible Human Project. Someone seems to have a lot of time on their hands.

[via Idle Type]

From the introduction:

“This on-line version of Here Today, Here Tomorrow… presents a variety of printed medical ephemera from the collections of William H. Helfand and the National Library of Medicine. The exhibit was held at the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, May 22 through September 11, 1995.

The exhibit presents a lively and colorful collection of medical and pharmaceutical ephemera, dating from the 18th century to the present and contains nearly 400 items, including posters, informational pamphlets, trade cards, handbills, postcards, broadsides, and other types of printed ephemera. Over 140 representative items are displayed in this online exhibit. The exhibit is organized around a number of themes and categories - women, children, the medicine show, public health, AIDS, tuberculosis, medical education, and addiction. Also highlighted is a rich and varied collection of medical, dental, and pharmaceutical bookplates.“

I especially recommend the bookplates, this cover from a snake oil pamphlet, this No One Is Safe From Cancer bookmark, and this drug advertisement.

Aaron Swartz: The Weblog offers “Edward R. Tufte’s ‘The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint’ Presented in the Form of a PowerPoint Presentation.”

Nicely postmodern.