Bulletin of the History of Medicine

Arthur Schüller was born into an affluent Jewish family on December 28, 1874, twenty-one years to the day before Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen published his momentous essay, "On a New Kind of Rays." Schüller attended medical school at the University of Vienna, and in 1902, he began a lifetime of research in neuroradiology, [End Page 468] publishing The Skull Base on the Radiogram in 1905. It was the first of hundreds of publications, most of which dealt with the neurological aspects of skull and spine images, and in 1961, British neuroradiologist J. W. D. Bull proclaimed Schüller "the father of neuroradiology."¹ Keith Henderson, an Australian neurosurgeon and the author of this short biography of Schüller, certainly agrees with Bull's assessment. But Henderson's book is more than just a biography of an individual whom he knew personally and admired greatly.

Henderson depicts fin de siècle Vienna in the decades before Hitler, emphasizing the early-twentieth-century culture of the University of Vienna and its fame as a medical center. But the focus always returns to Schüller and his wide-ranging interest in neurology, radiology, and neurosurgical matters. While studying the anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system, for example, Schüller developed a very early animal model of "stereotactic surgery forty years before its time" (p. 31). Moreover, his knowledge of neuroanatomy allowed him to advise surgeons operating on the brain, and as early as 1902, he was "exploring the potential of x-rays in the diagnosis of diseases of the brain" (p. 53). Schüller also helped develop early surgical approaches to the pituitary gland. However, so much diagnostic and surgical work was done simultaneously in Vienna, Berlin, London, Baltimore, and Chicago that it is difficult to credit any individual with a single major breakthrough.

Still, Schüller's expertise in neurology and radiology was undoubtedly useful to surgeons developing the new field of neurosurgery. Using Schüller's 1910 article as a guide, Philadelphia neurosurgeon Edward Martin "performed the first 'anterolateral cordotomy'" in 1912 (p. 39). In addition to stereotactic surgery, pituitary surgery, and cordotomy, Schüller's research led to cisternal punctures and the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid to treat hydrocephalus (p. 40). He wrote hundreds of articles and books about the use of radiology to diagnose neurological problems, helping establish the importance of radiology to the neurological specialties.

But Henderson also situates Schüller's declining fortunes in the degeneration of the University of Vienna Medical School. Despite the antisemitism of the earlier Austro-Hungarian Empire, by "the turn of the century half of the professors in the university were Jewish" and were essential to the preeminence of Viennese medicine (p. 16). But, through their villainous stooge Eduard Pernkopf, the Nazis purged the faculty of its best minds, abruptly ending the university's distinction. As the tragedy unfolded, Schüller and his wife fled, but their families (including their two grown sons) lingered too long and died in the concentration camps.

The second half of the book recounts the Schüllers' search for a new home, settling successfully, if impecuniously, in Melbourne, Australia. Frau Schüller, this once "grand Viennese lady met the challenge by … cooking meals and doing ironing for people in their homes" (p. 160). Schüller, 65 years old and near retirement [End Page 469] age, did not have an Australian medical license. Nevertheless, his prowess in neuroroentgenology (a term he had coined) landed him work in the radiology department at St. Vincent's Hospital as a supernumerary. Supported by the generosity of Australian colleagues and an anonymous hospital fund, Schüller worked there until 1956. To the end, he remained dedicated to neuroradiology. On his last day, he interpreted "a ventriculogram, a carotid angiogram, an air encephalogram and a vertebral angiogram" before walking out the door (p. 148). He died a year later at the age of 82.

Keith Henderson knew Schüller well, had access to Schüller's writings, and interviewed many of Schüller's colleagues and friends. This biography fills a gap in the historiography of radiology, because few writers have devoted more than a paragraph or two to Schüller's work, and most have not contextualized it. Erwin Schindler, with whom Henderson compared notes, might have done so, but he died unexpectedly, having written only a single, brief article.² And the more general histories of radiology do not usually include the Viennese contributions to the early history of radiography.

This is a modest book, but it is a well-written and expressive depiction of the culture and science of an historical epoch seen through the life and work of a pioneer in neuroradiology. It recounts the glamour of early-twentieth-century Vienna, the rise of National Socialism, the shame of antisemitic collaboration, the horror of the Holocaust, and the quiet desperation of the dispossessed who made it to safety. There are also glimpses of the sometimes-reluctant societies that took in the stateless Jewish refugees. It is effective and affecting, while being informative and a pleasure to read. It should appeal to anyone interested in the early years of radiology, neurology, or neurosurgery. And, it will engage those interested in the academic atmosphere of Belle Époque Vienna, the tragedy of the Anschluss, or the diaspora of Jewish intellectuals.