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Die Namen Cormack und Hounsfield sind für den Radiologen zu einem wichtigen Synonym für die Computertomographie (CT) geworden. Der mathematische Wegbereiter für die CT, Johann Radon, kommt in der radiologischen Diskussion und den historischen Rückblicken hingegen oft zu Unrecht zu kurz. Die folgende Kurzübersicht möchte daher dem interessierten Leser die wichtigsten historischen Eckdaten zu dem in vielerlei Hinsicht bewegenden Leben und Wirken dieses großen Mathematikers näherbringen.
The famous violin virtuoso Nicolò Paganini (born on 27 October 1782 in Genoa, died on 27 May 1840 in Nice) left us with many puzzles. An interesting aspect is his hair: In the 19th century, hair given away as a token of friendship or romantic love became very popular, and Paganini also seems to have made use of this fad. In 2009, a lock of hair, purportedly that of Paganini, kept in a locked presentation box together with a bilingual autograph inscription saying: "Alla Signora Chatterton avec les compliments de Nicolò Paganini" was bought at an auction. From this hair lock a sample was taken and was investigated morphologically by using digital light microscopy (digital microscope VHX-100, Keyence) in reflected and transmitted light with and without polarization at different magnifications up to 1:5,000. The sample was then compared with a hair sample from the possession of the Paganini family, which had been microscopically examined in 2012 by the co-author of this paper yielding numerous figures with measurement results that had been stored and could be retrieved for direct comparison. The hair sample consisted of ten strands of hair or hair fragments and was investigated with great effort for the following parameters: exogenous hair damage, especially feeding traces caused by parasites, modeling and angulation of hairs, hair thickness, medulla and pigmentation, curling and mercury load on the trace material. After evaluation of all findings not only a non-exclusion of identity can be determined, but due to the broad match of also rare findings there is no reasonable doubt about their identity. In addition, the findings suggest that the studied hair samples are in fact from Paganini's head. The present case of Nicolò Paganini's hair lock is also an excellent starting point for reflections on the probative value of trace hair investigations. This point is also critically discussed in the paper. Finally, this study shows that said lock of hair had probably really been dedicated and given to Eliza Davenport Latham (born on 25 November 1806, died on 9 January 1877), the future wife of the, at that time, best-known and most famous English harpist John Balsir Chatterton (born on 25 November 1804, died on 9 April 1871). Paganini must have met her on his concert tour 1831/32, where he had travelled to Paris, London, the rest of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Serendipities in der Medizin
(2016)
Zufälle begleiten unser Leben. Auch bei wichtigen Entdeckungen und Entwicklungen in der Medizin spielt der „Zufall“ (engl. „serendipity“) eine Rolle. Hierzu gehören u. a. die Mendelschen Gesetze, die Ermittlung der menschlichen Chromosomenzahl, die Entdeckung der DNS durch Watson und Crick, der PAP-Test oder die Entdeckung der Röntgenstrahlung und der Radioaktivität. Aber auch und gerade in der Pharmakologie gibt es viele Beispiele für Serendipitäten. Einige gehen eng mit Zufällen bei der Entdeckung der Bakteriologie einher.