In the last twenty-five years there has been extraordinary progress in our ability to measure and model the tissue properties and activity in the living human brain using magnetic resonance imaging. Reliable measurements can be made at the millimeter scale in individual subjects, significantly enhancing the value of these techniques for both scientific and clinical applications. We have been applying these methods to understand the brain circuitry that is essential for seeing words. I will summarize certain findings to understand the development this portion of the neural reading circuitry. I will describe examples that combine functional MRI measurements with computational models to characterize the position, size and stimulus selectivity within the many different regions of visual cortex. I will also describe the principles of diffusion MRI and quantitative MRI, and how these methods are used to model the active, biological wires that carry this information throughout the human brain. I am hopeful that combining quantitative measurements and computational models in individual participants, supported by reproducible research tools, can provide a strong foundation for a human neuroscience that benefits society.