Friedrich Dessauer (1881-1963): the forgotten medical physicist, politician, and philosopher.

Today, the name Friedrich Dessauer is almost forgotten; however, his scientific, social, and political works should not be. Dessauer's professional career began at a young age as a professor of physics in Frankfurt am Main. It is said that he published 400 papers and 65 book chapters and pamphlets. He was a technical inventor who established laws that dealt with theories to explain the limited understanding of the effects of radiation on cells. He advocated for methods to improve the therapeutic ratio. As a devout Catholic politician, Dessauer was an early opponent of National Socialism. This led to him being thrown into prison for political reasons in 1933. He did not leave until 1934, and then for Istanbul, largely thanks to Turkish efforts and his appointment as director of a large new institution. While he was already a well-known physicist in Germany, he had to start from scratch in order to build a modern institute. A recent article in the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology celebrated his important contributions to radiology from Turkey. After his contract in Istanbul expired in 1937, he left for the small University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he was unfortunately unable to continue his scientific productivity. Dessauer wrote textbooks as well as political and philosophical books, and attempted to bridge the gap between Catholicism and science. Additionally, after the war, he began to teach again in Frankfurt. In photos of Dessauer, radiation-induced skin changes on his face and hands were clearly visible. Towards the end of his life, he received many medals and honors for his achievements in Germany, some of them posthumously.

Medical physics and physics in medicine in Ireland (part 1: 1600-~2000).

Medical physics and other contributions from physics to medicine are relatively well known, if not well documented in Ireland. Less well known are contributions from medicine to the development of physics, which can and do occur. This paper addresses examples of all three. The methods employed include documentary research and interviews with those who share(d) the stage in the area. Documentary evidence for historical aspects of medical physics over the last century are relatively sparse and incomplete. Notwithstanding this, they can and do enable a picture to be built up of how the arrangements in place now have come about, particularly when they are accompanied by mature recollections of the participants. Good critically assessed and accessible sources have been identified covering the seventeenth to nineteenth century material presented. Examples are presented based on the work of significant contributors, each with strong Irish connections, including Robert Boyle, Erwin Schrödinger, Fearghus O'Foghludha, and Edith Stoney the first female medical physicist. Their contributions are striking and continue to be relevant now. The findings provide a rich context and heritage for medical physics in Ireland and in the international community. They will include the contemporary period in a second paper, Part 2 of this study.

Presidential Perspectives: Women's Views From the Top.

This paper presents the perspectives of past presidents of the Health Physics Society who also happen to be women. Only 6 out of 63 Society presidents have been women, and of these six, five are still living and briefly reflect on their experiences here, alongside a brief discussion of the first female president of the Society. These perspectives provide historical insight into the evolution and happenings of the Society as well as adding personal touches to the office of the president that hopefully will encourage junior Society members to consider serving.