“I have discovered something interesting, but I do not know whether or not my observations are correct.” With these words, Wilhelm Röntgen introduced the world to an invisible power, a power which would in turn be used to both harm and heal. This week, we take a tour of the wide world of radiation, starting with a primer on what radiation actually is and how it works, courtesy of Dr. Timothy Jorgensen, Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine and Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program, Georgetown University. Then we discuss the nitty gritty on what radiation does to you on a cellular level. We follow that up with a stroll through some of the major moments in the history of radiation – from X-rays to atomic bombs and from radioluminescent paint to cancer treatments. Finally we wrap things up by chatting about the many amazing medical applications of radiation therapy and how you can assess the risk/benefit of that X-ray or mammogram.
To read Dr. Jorgensen’s incredible book Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation, check out his website or check out our full list of sources below.
| History | Biology |
| Jorgensen, Timothy J. Strange glow: the story of radiation. Princeton University Press, 2017. | Stone, Helen B., et al. “Effects of radiation on normal tissue: consequences and mechanisms.” The lancet oncology 4.9 (2003): 529-536. |
| Higginbotham, Adam. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster. Random House, 2019. | Coia, Lawrence R., Robert J. Myerson, and Joel E. Tepper. “Late effects of radiation therapy on the gastrointestinal tract.” International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics 31.5 (1995): 1213-1236. |
| Aleksievich, Svetlana, and Svetlana Alexiévich. Voices from Chernobyl. Dalkey Archive Press, 2005. | Mettler Jr, Fred A., Angelina K. Gus’kova, and Igor Gusev. “Health effects in those with acute radiation sickness from the Chernobyl accident.” Health physics 93.5 (2007): 462-469. |
| Moore, Kate. The radium girls: The dark story of America’s shining women. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2017. | i Garau, Miquel Macià, Anna Lucas Calduch, and Enric Casanovas López. “Radiobiology of the acute radiation syndrome.” Reports of Practical Oncology & Radiotherapy 16.4 (2011): 123-130. |
| Jungk, Robert. Brighter than a thousand suns: a personal history of the atomic scientists. Vol. 182. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1958. | Finch, Stuart C. “Acute radiation syndrome.” JAMA 258.5 (1987): 664-667. |
| Welsome, E. The Plutonium Files: America’s Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War. 1999 New York. | |
| Washington, Harriet A. Medical apartheid: The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. Doubleday Books, 2006. | |
| Stone, Robert. “Radio Bikini.” New Video Group (1987). | |
| Loader, Jayne, Kevin Rafferty, and Pierce Rafferty. “The atomic cafe.” (1982). | |
| Firsthand Account: The story of Miyoko Watanabe, https://www.hiroshima-spirit.jp/en/voice/watanabe_e.html#watanabe2_E |
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