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Edward Flatau (1868–1932) — world-leading pioneer of neurology and neurosurgery
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Affiliations- Department of History & Philosophy of Medical Scienses, Medical University of Gdansk, Tuwima 15, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
- Department of Developmental Neurology, Medical University of Gdansk, Dębinki 7, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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Abstract
Polish neurology and neurosurgery owe a very great deal to Edward Flatau. He was a pioneer of these disciplines in Poland whose influence extends worldwide, and we recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of his birth. Edward Flatau’s grandson, an outstanding physicist who has been living in San Diego in the USA for many years, has published a book ‘Edward Flatau and his comet: beginnings of Polish neurology’. Its promotion took place in the Flatau hometown of Płock in Poland.
In 1894, Edward Flatau published his notable work: ‘Atlas of the human brain and the trajectory of fibres’, the result of arduous work on brain sections and images that were captured with an especially designed camera. These photographs caused a publishing sensation at the end of the 19th century. The atlas was published in German and almost immediately translated into Polish, Russian, French and English. The most distinguished work of Edward Flatau was his great 1912 study of migraine headaches entitled ‘Migraine’, which has still not become out-of-date and is regularly quoted in international literature today.
Abstract
Polish neurology and neurosurgery owe a very great deal to Edward Flatau. He was a pioneer of these disciplines in Poland whose influence extends worldwide, and we recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of his birth. Edward Flatau’s grandson, an outstanding physicist who has been living in San Diego in the USA for many years, has published a book ‘Edward Flatau and his comet: beginnings of Polish neurology’. Its promotion took place in the Flatau hometown of Płock in Poland.
In 1894, Edward Flatau published his notable work: ‘Atlas of the human brain and the trajectory of fibres’, the result of arduous work on brain sections and images that were captured with an especially designed camera. These photographs caused a publishing sensation at the end of the 19th century. The atlas was published in German and almost immediately translated into Polish, Russian, French and English. The most distinguished work of Edward Flatau was his great 1912 study of migraine headaches entitled ‘Migraine’, which has still not become out-of-date and is regularly quoted in international literature today.
Keywords
atlas of human brain, migraine, Flatau’s law, great pioneer of neurology and neurosurgery
About this articleTitle
Edward Flatau (1868–1932) — world-leading pioneer of neurology and neurosurgery
Journal
Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska
Issue
Pages
211-216
Published online
2020-02-26
Page views
853
Article views/downloads
839
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
Neurol Neurochir Pol 2020;54(2):211-216.
Keywords
atlas of human brain
migraine
Flatau’s law
great pioneer of neurology and neurosurgery
Authors
Seweryna Konieczna
Dariusz Koziorowski
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