Radiation Evangelists

Radiation Evangelists
Author: Jeffrey Womack
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2020-03-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0822987430

Radiation Evangelists explores X-ray and radium therapy in the United States and Great Britain during a crucial period of its development, from 1896 to 1925. It focuses on the pioneering work of early advocates in the field, the “radiation evangelists” who, motivated by their faith in a new technology, trust in new energy sources, and hope for future breakthroughs, turned a blind eye to the dangers of radiation exposure. Although ionizing radiation effectively treated diseases like skin infections and cancers, radiation therapists—who did not need a medical education to develop or administer procedures or sell tonics containing radium—operated in a space of uncertainty about exactly how radiation worked or would affect human bodies. And yet radium, once a specialized medical treatment, would eventually become a consumer health product associated with the antibacterial properties of sunlight. This book raises important questions about medical experimentation and the so-called Golden Rule of medical ethics, issues of safety and professional identity, and the temptation of a powerful therapeutic tool that also posed significant risks in its formative years. In this cautionary tale of technological medical progress, Jeffrey Womack reveals how practitioners and their patients accepted uncertainty as a condition of their therapy in an attempt to alleviate human suffering

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout
Author: United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Subcommittee on Research, Development, and Radiation
Publisher:
Total Pages: 598
Release: 1962
Genre: Radiation
ISBN:

Reviews and updates information on radiation standards including fallout, genetic consequences of radiation exposure, and role and function of Federal Radiation Council and private organizations in administering radiation standards. Includes, "Monitoring-Surveillance Activities in U.S.," by James G. Terrill, Jr., Dep Chief, Div of Radiological Health, HEW, June 5, 1962 (p. 179-237).

Chain Reactions

Chain Reactions
Author: Lucy Jane Santos
Publisher: Icon Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2024-07-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1837731551

Tracing uranium's past, and how it intersects with our understanding of other radioactive elements, this book aims to disentangle our attitudes and to unpick the atomic mindset. Chain Reactions looks at the fascinating, often-forgotten, stories that can be found throughout the history of the element. Ranging from glassworks to penny stocks; medicines to weapons; something to be feared to a powerful source of energy, this global history not only explores the development of our scientific understanding of uranium, but also shines a light on its cultural and social impact. By understanding our nuclear past, we can move beyond the ideological opposition to atomic technology and encourage a more nuanced dialogue about whether it is feasible - and desirable - to have a genuinely nuclear-powered future.

Seduced by Radium

Seduced by Radium
Author: Maria Rentetzi
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2022-09-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0822988704

The discovery of radium by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 eventually led to a craze for radium products in the 1920s until their widespread use proved lethal for consumers, patients, and medical practitioners alike. Radium infiltrated American culture, Maria Rentetzi reveals, not only because of its potential to treat cancer but because it was transformed from a scientific object into a familiar, desirable commodity. She explores how Standard Chemical Company in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania—the first successful commercial producer of radium in the United States—aggressively promoted the benefits of radium therapy and its curative properties as part of a lucrative business strategy. Over-the-counter products, from fertilizers to paints and cosmetics to tonics and suppositories, inspired the same level of trust in consumers as a revolutionary pharmaceutical. The radium industry in the United States marketed commodities like Liquid Sunshine and Elixir of Youth at a time when using this new chemical element in the laboratory, in the hospital, in private clinics, and in commercial settings remained largely free of regulation. Rentetzi shows us how marketing campaigns targeted individually to men and women affected not only how they consumed these products of science but also how that science was understood and how it contributed to the formation of ideas about gender. Seduced by Radium ultimately reveals how innovative advertising techniques and seductive, state-of-the-art packaging made radium a routine part of American life, shaping scientific knowledge about it and the identities of those who consumed it.

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout
Author: United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 592
Release: 1962
Genre: Radiation
ISBN:

Reviews and updates information on radiation standards including fallout, genetic consequences of radiation exposure, and role and function of Federal Radiation Council and private organizations in administering radiation standards. Includes, "Monitoring-Surveillance Activities in U.S.," by James G. Terrill, Jr., Dep Chief, Div of Radiological Health, HEW, June 5, 1962 (p. 179-237).

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout: Appendix [written statements

Radiation Standards, Including Fallout: Appendix [written statements
Author: United States. Congress. Joint Committee on Atomic Energy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 602
Release: 1962
Genre: Radiation
ISBN:

Reviews and updates information on radiation standards including fallout, genetic consequences of radiation exposure, and role and function of Federal Radiation Council and private organizations in administering radiation standards. Includes, "Monitoring-Surveillance Activities in U.S.," by James G. Terrill, Jr., Dep Chief, Div of Radiological Health, HEW, June 5, 1962 (p. 179-237).