2000 HSS/PSA Program 1 - History of Science Society

HSS Abstracts
Christophe Lecuyer Dibner Institute for the History of Science and
Technology
Instrumentalizing Medicine:
Physics Research, Medical Practice, and the Development of Linear
Accelerators for Cancer Therapy at Stanford University and Varian
Associates, 1952-1975
To understand the making of science-based medicine in the postwar period,
we need to examine the ways in which new medical technologies are
constructed and integrated into the hospital environment. In this paper, we
trace the development of a key medical instrument, the clinical linear electron
accelerator (clinac), from its origin in high energy physics research in the
early 1950s to its widespread adoption for cancer treatment in the 1970s. In
particular, we explore the processes by which physicists, engineers, and medical
doctors at Stanford University and Varian Associates transformed linear
accelerators from research instruments in particle physics into medical tools
for the treatment of many forms of cancer. Special attention is devoted to the
development of new accelerator designs for clinical therapy at Stanford’s
microwave laboratory and Varian Associates. We also investigate the
development of associated medical techniques and procedures and the training
of physicians skilled in the use of clinacs at Stanford’s radiology department,
as well as the roles of patients’ expectations, the professional values and culture
of radiology, and the “War on Cancer” programs supported by the Federal
Government, in the widespread adoption of this therapeutic technology.
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Susan␣ E. Lederer Yale University
Celluloid Science: Teaching Science Using Popular Film in the 1930s and 40s
In 1937 the Progressive Education Association established a motion picture
project as one of the activities of its Commission on Human Relations. Overseen
by educator Alice Keliher and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the
motion picture project involved editing films made in Hollywood for theatrical
showings that could then be shown to audiences of high school students, college
students, and adults. As part of its work, the Commission developed study
guides containing both sample discussion questions and additional readings
for the discussion leaders. Moreover, the educators screened each of the selected
films for audiences in twenty schools, and made stenographic records of the
discussion that followed the film. The aim of the program was not science
education per se, but several films on the roster, notably The Story of Louis
Pasteur and Arrowsmith, encompassed issues relating to the nature of scientific
discovery and research ethics. The richness of this material makes it a useful
starting point for an exploration of the uses of “screen science” in the 1930s
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