Robert Matthew Hay McMinn

Robert Matthew Hay McMinn (“Bob”) died after a long and distinguished career as one of the foremost human anatomists of his generation, with several bestselling publications to his name. His major work was the publication in 1977 of A Colour Atlas of Human Anatomy, in collaboration with the photographer Ralph Hutchings. A totally new concept in anatomy teaching, this book showed life sized colour photographs of actual dissections of real bodies, rather than the usual line drawings with red arteries, blue veins, and yellow nerves that had been the somewhat dull, unrealistic fare for medical students until then. A modest and unassuming man, Bob was amazed by its success; it rapidly became one of the standard anatomical texts not only for medical students, but also for artists, sculptors and anyone interested in the human form. Rumour has it that it was even regarded by some as a desirable coffee table ornament. Revised over the years to include more clinical emphasis, the book is now in its sixth edition, has been translated into over 30 languages and has sales of several million wordwide.

With the …