Getting the flavor of...Visiting Einstein’s brain

Visitors have been rediscovering America’s oldest medical museum since Albert Einstein’s brain arrived in 2011.

Visiting Einstein’s brain

America’s oldest medical museum just might make you sick, said Diane Stoneback in the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call. Now celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia houses a collection of human remains that barely begins with its 139 chill-inducing skulls. Wander among its old-world displays and you’ll also encounter a 70-pound ovarian cyst, the ballooned abdomen of a freak-show attraction known as the Wind Bag, and the liver that was shared by the conjoined twins Chang and Eng. Visitors have been rediscovering the Mütter’s marvels since Albert Einstein’s brain arrived in 2011—actually, 46 pieces of the great physicist’s brain, mounted on microscope slides. Curators regularly mount temporary exhibits, while a cellphone tour tests users on how well they can “read” skeletons for sex, age, and possible maladies. Whether you’re fascinated or horrified, the experience is unforgettable

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