Ever wondered what the brain of science's pop icon Albert Einstein looks like? Well, wait no longer. A huge collection of images of his brain and its structures has been digitized, and they are now available to the general public through an iPad app.
The application is called NMHMC Harvey and was created by the National Museum of Health + Medicine Chicago.
From the app description:
Dr. Thomas Harvey was the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Albert Einstein at Princeton Hospital on April 18, 1955. Dr. Harvey removed the brain for study, segmented the brain into approximately 170 parts, roughly grouped by the various lobes and brainstem, and then sectioned those parts into hundreds of microscope sections. These sections were mounted on microscope slides and stained to highlight both cellular structure and nerve conductive tissue. Harvey’s estate donated the collection to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in 2010. In the spring of 2012, the National Museum of Health + Medicine Chicago (NMHMChicago) obtained private funding support to begin digitizing this collection. This app makes available to the public the portion of the collection that has been digitized to-date. Subsequent releases of this app will add additional materials as their digitization can be completed.
All profits from the sale of this app will be used to support the Department of Defense’s National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as the National Museum of Health and Medicine Chicago, a 501(c)3 public charity institution.
More screenshots below. Via New Scientist.
