In 1983 the first of a series of ‘A backward glance’, in which ‘Chronos’ reviewed the issue of Medical and Biological Illustration published 25 years earlier, appeared in the Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine 6, No.1. M&BI became JAMM in 1978. A backward glance has continued regularly since; initially they consisted of very short quotes, usually sentences with a comment added. For instance, a paragraph in M&BI in 1964 was recorded as follows:
“Anterior Segment Eye Photography in Kodachrome.
A technique is given for photographing the anterior segment at 1 : 1 ratio.
The light source is a projector lamp overrun by 30% and mounted in a black reflector so as to give a small reflex.
Quite blinding . . . !”
Other comments included “There seems to be so little new . . .”, “Questions that might still be asked today …!”, “Seems so simple nowadays . . .” and “How do students measure up today……?”. The pseudonym chosen by the author was Chronos, which in ancient Greek means ‘time’ but when sadly he died in 2002 his place was taken by another author who chose the pseudonym ‘Tempus’ which is ‘time’ in Latin.
Originally the Backward glance was between 30 and 90 words but this has grown to some 300 words in each issue. Over the years more emphasis seems to have been placed on the contents of the journals, particularly those which forecast current practice reasonably accurately but occasionally views which had became hopelessly out of date have been reproduced. New developments in procedures and equipment are highlighted and sometimes advertisements are quoted.
In a fast-developing field like medical illustration where frequent changes in equipment and practice are taking place it is intriguing to review how attitudes and beliefs have changed in the past quarter-century. This can be achieved in several ways and it would be interesting to hear from readers if the present balance is about right or whether a different approach would be preferred.
Tempus
A glimpse ahead......
2013 sees ‘A backward glance’ expanding; it will not only look back twenty-five years at the journals of that time, but it will in future include articles looking at the history of visual communication in medicine, its pioneers and ambassadors and will also showcase examples of original artwork and photography from past times. If you think you may have a paper suitable to submit for this section please contact the Editor. We hope you continue to enjoy this section of the publication.
Editor