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Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radioactivity Center
MIT Radioactivity Center records, 1942-1981.
Patient records, laboratory notebooks, and office files of the Radioactivity Center document research on the biological effects of atomic radiation, and studies used both to determine safety regulations for exposure to radioactive elements and to increase accuracy in the measurement of radioactivity. The center's chronological correspondence file, 1949-1977, is also included. There are also records on microfilm, with an index arranged alphabetically by patient name for each year.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radioactivity Center (RC), established in 1934 as a laboratory within the Department of Physics by Professor Robley Evans, was one of the first multidisciplinary centers at the Institute. In 1938 MIT began construction of the cyclotron which when completed in the 1940s was administered by the RC. Under Evans's direction the MIT cyclotron was the first to be applied to medicine. During World War II the MIT cyclotron was the only source of radioactive isotopes in the United States apart from the Manhattan District Project. Later, responsiblility for the cyclotron was shifted to the Laboratory for Nuclear Science. The RC also conducted research in radiochemistry, instrumentation, geophysics, radioactive tracers, and the biological effects of radiation. During World War II the center conducted research on blood plasma and whole-blood preservation. After World War II the center studied cases of human exposure to radioactive substances in the work place (e.g., radium dial painters) and in the environment to provide a basis for international radiation protection standards. The center also worked on the use of radioactive substances in medicine for diagnosis and treatment.
In 1971 the Radioactivity Center was transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission's newly established Center for Human Radiobiology at the Argonne National Laboratory, created to study the radiobiological effects of skeletally deposited radioactivity in humans. Evans was the director of the RC from 1934 until his retirement in 1972.
Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-
Radioactivity -- Measurement.
Radioactivity -- Physiological effect.
Radioactivity -- Safety measures
AIP-ICOS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections. M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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