A Vicennial View of Squid Magnetocardiography

Abstract

I am no historian and what follows is by no means an accurate narrative of the first attempt at SQUID magnetocardiography. The main protagonists in this tale are of course David Cohen and Jim Zimmerman. Their collaboration came about from quite different paths. I was an observer and an amicus curiae to this collaboration. The forces that shape science and technology today often have their origins in the immediate past. I will look back some twenty years to events that preceded the use of SQUIDS in biomagnetism and also try to look forward some twenty years to what could be in the future. I will recount some recollections of how this marriage between SQUIDS and biomagnetism was consummated.