Development of Physics Applied to Medicine in the UK, 1945-1990 Book

Organized with the assistance of Professor John Clifton (Harpenden) and chaired by Professor Peter Williams (Manchester), this seminar examined the early developments of medical physics in the UK between 1945 and 1990. Participants discussed a range of themes including medical physics before and during the war, the role of the King's Fund and the formation of the Hospital Physicist's Association (HPA), expansion of medical physics outside radiotherapy and to non-radiation physics (ultrasound, medical instrumentation, bioengineering, use of digital computers), developing regional services and links with industry. The seminar finished with a discussion on the changing scene in the 1980s, covering topics such as funding, academic and undergraduate medical physics, imaging, CT, NMR and others. Participants included Mr Tom Ashton, Dr Barry Barber, Professors Roland Blackwell and Terence Burlin, Dr Joseph Blau, Mr Bob (John) Burns, Professors John Clifton, David Delpy, Philip Dendy and Jack Fowler, Dr Jean Guy, Mr John Haggith, Drs John Haybittle, Alan Jennings and John Law, Professors John Mallard and Joe McKie, Mr David Murnaghan, Professor Angela Newing, Dr Sydney Osborn, Professor Rodney Smallwood, Dr Adrian Thomas, Dr Peter Tothill, Mr Theodore Tulley, Professors Peter Wells and John West and Mr John Wilkinson

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Reviewer:Parminder S Basran, PhD, MCCPM(Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre)
Description:This book contains edited transcriptions of a July 2005 seminar at which a number of prominent scientists gathered to discuss the development of medical physics in the post-war era. This is part of a series of seminar transcripts supported by the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
Purpose:Rather than attempting a complete history of applied physics in medicine, this book offers insights into the rich history of medical physics in the U.K. via personal accounts.
Audience:Many of the attendees practiced in the pre-WWII era. The firsthand accounts of the sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, events that many of these pioneers encountered add a human face to the history of these developments. This renders the book a credible, if somewhat subjective, source of information.
Features:There is no clear structure in the organization of the seminar, apart from the chair's (Professor Peter Williams) channeling of the discussion toward various topics. Much discussion focuses on pioneering work in medical physics prior to WWII, the differences between a "hospital physicist" and "physicist," the expansion of the profession after the war inside and outside radiotherapy, and the changing role of physicists in medicine over the decades. The transcript has many footnotes, 16 figures, a comprehensive set of references linking the discussion with scientific publications, and an index. Finally, and what I like best, is a collection of biographies of individuals who were present at the seminar or were mentioned in the discussion. This is probably not the best review of the history of medical physics. Nevertheless, due to the scarcity of books on the subject, the quality of the references, biographies, and footnotes provides many opportunities for the reader to delve deeper into this era. At times the discussion focuses on people rather than events, but the dialogue provides a very human perspective. I am a bit surprised that there is no mention of the advances in radiobiology in the U.K. during that era.
Assessment:The discussions of educational requirements for entering the field, the recognition of the profession, and the pressing demands to introduce new technologies into clinical practice are particularly fascinating since the same challenges persist in the profession. Overall, this book lives up to expectations and offers a human perspective on the developments of physics as applied to medicine in the post-war era.