ABSTRACT
In 1968, with the enthusiastic nancial support of Earl E. Bakken-then president of Medtronic, Inc.—I began collecting the materials that would become The Medtronic Museum of Electricity in Life. Today it is simply called The Bakken, a private educational foundation located on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The holdings of The Bakken represent the most concentrated and comprehensive collection of books and original devices documenting the history of medical electricity and magnetism in the world. It contains over 10,000 publications and approximately a thousand instruments. There are also several complementary subcollections including cardiology, neurology, natural history, and anatomy.
