A Machine Called Indomitable

Trained as a biophysicist, mathematician and physician, Raymond Damadian could have excelled as a concert violinist or tennis ace as well, according to this lively portrayal by New York Times reporter Kleinfield (The Trader, etc.). Instead, in his cellular research, Damadian adapted for clinical use a machine that enabled him to detect the difference between a cancer cell and a normal cell by its chemistry. So difficult was it to raise funds for research that the irate maverick scientist accused the cancer-research establishment of obstructing progress. Nevertheless, with obsessive determination, and despite derision and in some cases outright piracy on the part of his peers, he and his team developed a nuclear magnetic resonance human scanner that he believes will not only replace X-rays, surgery and CAT-scanning as diagnostic tools, but will serve other medical purposes, including a cure for cancer. January 28