A.D.A.M. stood for Animated Dissection of Anatomy for Medicine, and its software let anyone dissect a body on a personal computer. Students peeled back layers of anatomy, from skin to bone. The CD-ROM was the new medium of learning, and the Atlanta company sold its discs to schools, medical students, and families. It went public in November 1995, just as the web began to draw attention away from CD-ROMs.

Better Than a Textbook

A.D.A.M. was founded in Atlanta in 1990. The bet was that detailed medical illustration, delivered by computer, could teach anatomy better than textbooks. The company built a large library of accurate images and animations. It sold versions for medical schools and simpler ones for home and school use. The images became its main asset. The company reused them for decades in new formats.

From CD-ROM to Ebix

A.D.A.M. priced its offering at $12 a share and completed it on November 10, 1995. As CD-ROMs faded, the company turned its library into online health content. It licensed that content to hospitals, health sites, and insurers. It later added benefits technology for employers. Its anatomy library outlived the medium it was built for. In 2011 Ebix, the Atlanta insurance software company, acquired A.D.A.M. for about $66 million.

Cover: Adam and Eve, Albrecht Dürer. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for Adam and Eve (the first anatomy).