(I was horrified to discover that Wikipedia does not have an entry on Fritz Kahn in English. I was utterly unaware of how deep into obscurity this multitalented man had fallen. Update: my pigheaded ability to pester strangers have resulted in an solid entry on Kahn on Wikipedia. Many thanks to Yngvadottir ).

Fritz Kahn (1888-1968) was one of those annoying renaissance men I cannot help to admire. He was a German science writer, gynaecologist, doctor, surgeon, anthropologist, art director, artist and creator of information visualisation par excellence.

He is by some considered the father of modern data and information visualisation. Though to us some of his illustrations/works of art/scientific insights into the human body might look like  the work of da Vinci on Ritalin, they do convey an amazing amount of information. As well as conceptualising ideas about the world around us and inside us. For this I doff my hat. Further, he was not afraid of controversial subjects. One of his bestselling works of the time was titled Our sex-life. 

His books were burned by the Nazis. He fled Germany, and ultimately ended up in USA.

Thomas Alva Edison believed that inside our heads, there were little people scuttling around controlling our memory. Dr. Kahn had no such notions, he was a different man of a different scientific mind. But by using that metaphor he certainly visualised important concepts. He published a large amount of work, but is maybe most famous for Das Leben des Menschen (The life of humans), a five volume series. Though, as it seems, he has fallen so deeply into obscurity, that “most famous” means almost nothing.

I have for a long time looked longingly at a book containing his work called Fritz Kahn: Man Machine/Maschine Mensch, but at a whooping price of GBP 270-300 (! about USD450) I would at least like to see it before I starve myself, saving up for this. I am happy to report, though, that a much cheaper book is available, simply called Fritz Kahn.

There is a site called www.fritz-kahn.com. Go forth on your own adventure and find out about this remarkable man and his work.

Here is a very small collection of his stunning work.