Article ID: CBB312686900

Ada Potter and her microscopical neuroanatomy atlases (2022)

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In his Recollections (1947), Dutch neuropsychiatrist Cornelis Winkler mentioned his colleague Ada Potter, who made many of the neuroanatomic drawings in his publications. She also made two microscopical brain atlases (of a rabbit and a cat) and participated in endeavors to publish a human brain atlas. Born on East Java (Dutch East Indies), Potter received her M.D. from the University of Amsterdam. She worked with Winkler until his retirement (1926) and then moved to the United States. Subsequently, she went back to East Java, practicing in an insane asylum. In the meantime, she was active in the women’s mancipation movement. After a short stay in Geneva, she returned to the Netherlands in 1939. The rabbit and cat atlases (1911 and 1914, respectively) were major projects that served animal experimenters up to the 1980s. They consist of 40 and 35 black-and-white plates, respectively, depicting microscopic fiber and cell structure drawings with extensive legends. In a period in which medical photography had fully developed, they preferred drawings, particularly because neurons in thick microscopical slices can only be seen by continuous focusing. The choice was shared by well-known neuroanatomists, such as Ramon y Cajal, who noted that drawing facilitates analysis and teaches scientists how to see.

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Authors & Contributors
Ertsen, M. W.
Deniz Martinez
Moynihan, Thomas
Adam, Luthfi
Cherry, Haydon
Grant, Iain Hamilton
Concepts
Scientific illustration
Neuroanatomy
Science and art
Human anatomy
Visual representation; visual communication
Natural history
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
18th century
17th century
16th century
Early modern
Places
Netherlands
East Indies
Java (Indonesia)
South America
Italy
Germany
Institutions
Rockefeller Foundation
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