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The Microscopic Photographs of J.B. Dancer

by Dr. James McCormick

Friday September 30, 2011

7:30 PM: Presentation
The microscopic photographs of J.B.Dancer, his genius and contributions to 19th century natural science slide making and instrumentation will be discussed. Dancer pioneered the making of microphotographs mounted on slides for the microscope and photographed many well-known paintings. Contemporary techniques of making microscopic photographs of Dancer quality will also be discussed and there will be some samples to project.

Bio Sketch
Born in Chicago, Dr. McCormick received his M.D. degree at the University of Illinois. While in medical school he formed the Histoslide Company to prepare and sell teaching slides and models for the bio-sciences. Along with clinical research, Dr. McCormick has been devoted to teaching natural science and designing improved laboratory equipment and methods in scientific medicine. Between 1957 and 2011, he has been granted 50 patents for a broad variety of laboratory and clinical science applications. Dr. McCormick is associated with the Swedish Covenant hospital; presently he serves as Chairman of the Swedish Covenant Hospital Foundation and is a board member of the Galter Life Center.

Dr. McCormick and his wife are avid collectors of antique scientific instruments, microscopes and prepared natural science microscope slides of the 17th thru 19th century. Among their collections are several hundred microscopic photograph slides of J.B. Dancer 1812-1887. Dr. McCormick has co-authored the book The Microscopic Photographs of J.B. Dancer with Brian Bracegirdle in 1993.


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