Mapping the Universe - Mapping Scientific Frontiers: The Quest for Knowledge Visualization - page 79

Fig. 2.32 The original
structure of DNA's double
helix (Reprinted from
Wat son 1968 )

2.4.2 Acupuncture Maps

Acupuncture began with the original Chinese medical text, the Yellow Emperor's
Classic of Internal Medicine (475 BC). In this text, all six Yang Meridians were
said to be directly connected to the Auricle, whereas the six Yin meridians were
indirectly connected to the ear. These ancient Chinese Ear Points were arranged as
a scattered array of points on the ear. Figure 2.33 is an ear acupacture point map.
What is the best organizing metaphor?
The auricle of the ear is a complete miniature of the human body. There
are over 200 specific acupuncture points. In auriculotherapy, the auricle of the
external ear is utilized to alleviate pain, dysfunction and disease as represented and
manifest throughout the body. All vertebras, sympathetic/parasympathetic nerves,
spinal nerves, visceral organs and the central nervous system, and including all
anatomical sites and many functional points are represented on the ear. While
originally based upon the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture, the somatic
tropic correspondence of specific parts of the body to specific parts of the ear
was first developed by Paul Nogier, a French doctor of medicine, in late 1950s.
According to Nogier, the auricle mirrors the internal organs and auricular points can
be mapped to an inverted projection of an embryo.
Nogier developed a somatatopic map of the ear based upon the inverted fetus
concept. His work was first presented in France and then published by a German