A Machine Called Indomitable
The Remarkable Story of a Scientist's Inspiration, Invention, and Medical Breakthrough
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The true story of the doctor who invented the MRI: "A fascinating account of how a significant medical development came about" (The New York Times).
Dr. Raymond Damadian was plagued with a mysterious and persistent stomach pain, yet physicians assured him that they could find nothing wrong. To find the answer to his ailment, Damadian would spend the ensuing twelve years building a machine that would change medicine. Nuclear magnetic resonance scanning, now called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was a revolution: a safe means to determine the makeup of every cell in the human body, distinguishing healthy cells from sick. Although Damadian's ideas were met with skepticism and outright opposition from the medical community, this machine would go on to save the lives of millions by diagnosing disease while effective treatment was still possible. In short, it was a medical miracle.
The story of Damadian's quest—battling skeptical peers, money troubles, and more with an intensity approaching obsession—is one of the great legends of medical research. Sonny Kleinfield, acclaimed reporter and author, captures Damadian's remarkable triumph against the odds with compassion and a keen eye. A Machine Called Indomitable is scientific storytelling at its finest.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Trained as a biophysicist, mathematician and physician, Raymond Damadian could have excelled as a concert violinist or tennis ace as well, according to this lively portrayal by New York Times reporter Kleinfield (The Trader, etc.). Instead, in his cellular research, Damadian adapted for clinical use a machine that enabled him to detect the difference between a cancer cell and a normal cell by its chemistry. So difficult was it to raise funds for research that the irate maverick scientist accused the cancer-research establishment of obstructing progress. Nevertheless, with obsessive determination, and despite derision and in some cases outright piracy on the part of his peers, he and his team developed a nuclear magnetic resonance human scanner that he believes will not only replace X-rays, surgery and CAT-scanning as diagnostic tools, but will serve other medical purposes, including a cure for cancer. January 28
