ooking back at the main protagonists involved in MR imaging is vital for an understanding of the development of the modality. The topic is interesting, but for some people rather sensitive. This is a short and incomplete introduction to the topic MR imaging in medicine.

The two most important scientists for the development of magnetic resonance imaging were Erik Odeblad who first described the differences of relaxation times in human tissue and Paul C. Lauterbur who invented MR imaging. However, like any history, the history of MR imaging has no real beginning: "Everything flows and nothing stays," as Heraklitos pointed out – and writing about history is a permanent "Work-in-Progress". A very nice overview of magnetism and medicine was written by Manuel R. Mourino [ Mourino].

Tales hinting to magnetism date back to the first centuries BC, among them the writings of Lucretius and Pliny the Elder. Pliny (23-79 AD) wrote of a hill near the river Indus that was made entirely of a stone that attracted iron (Figure 20-01: "There be two mountains near the River Indus ...").

He also mentioned the 'magical powers' of magnetite that kept haunting mankind through the centuries.

The relation between electricity and magnetism was finally proved by Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851; picture) in 1820 when during a university lecture he deflected the needle of a magnetic compass by holding a charged wire next to it, thus producing magnetic field.

His finding influenced French physicist André-Marie Ampère's and British James Clerk Maxwell's research on electricity and magnetism.

One major contribution to magnetic resonance can be found in Napoleon's realm.

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (1768-1830; picture) served three years as the secretary of the Institut d'Egypte at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and later became prefect of the Isère département in France. However, the focus of his life was mathematics, and without his Fourier transform we would not be able to create MR images.