radioactivity.

Animal studies using radioactive materials give important information concerning physiology, both animal and human.

Geology

A main interest of the geologist is the history of the earth and its ever-changing life, especially as revealed in fossil formations and deposits under the soil.

The geologist has a vital place in the field of atomic energy since he helps provide the raw materials for nuclear processes. The atomic age has made radioactive materials essential to life, and the geologist must locate valuable deposits, determine their extent, analyze their purity, and plan their extraction.

Engineering

The engineer is the how-to-do-it man. This technical man of action comes in many varieties—mechanical, electrical, metallurgical, ceramic, industrial, civil, instrument, and chemical, to name a few.

In the field of nuclear energy, the mechanical engineer shoulders the responsibility for designing, supervising construction, and guiding the functions of the giant accelerators, nuclear reactors, atomic-propulsion plants, space-ship engines, and other mechanical equipment that must be constantly devised, improved, constructed, and redesigned.

The electrical engineer devises the intricate circuits that keep the vast equipment working smoothly, works out complex controls for instrumentations, eliminates malfunctions, and formulates electrical processes for new installations and devices.

Metallurgical and ceramic engineers test and evaluate the strength, durability, and other characteristics of materials to be used in the fabrication of equipment, and they produce new materials for specific jobs. For instance, a metallurgical engineer might produce a space-ship shell that meets the requirements of (1) minimum weight, (2) maximum shielding from radiation, and (3) high strength. He may analyze various materials for use in atomic reactors, nuclear submarines, or medical treatment rooms where radioactivity is used. The ceramic engineer tackles similar problems, working with ceramic products rather than metals.

The industrial engineer is concerned with the efficient use of machines, materials, and men in production.

The civil engineer takes the plans of the atomic plant and designs buildings and facilities for particular processes.

The instrument engineer examines a job to be done and then designs the instrumentation to do it. He must understand what happens when his instrumentation is integrated into an entire system of production and control. For instance, the engineer who develops an instrument to be used in a gaseous-diffusion plant for the separation of uranium isotopes must understand the entire process of uranium separation.

The chemical engineer works closely with the chemist. If the latter develops a new plastic, the engineer decides whether to put it into large-scale production and, if so, how.

Mathematics

The mathematician deals with numbers and their relations to one another. Progressing from the 2-plus-2 stage into higher mathematics, this science is essential to all the others—from the simple task of counting test tubes in a cabinet to an incredibly complex mathematical idea.

The mathematician speaks the language of all sciences using his special tool. Without him modern technology would not exist because mathematics interprets and explains all other sciences.

However, when mathematics becomes too complex, the mathematician puts aside his pencil and paper and turns to an electronic computer. Since computers can carry out mathematical calculations from 100 to 1,000,000 times as fast as a human being, they are necessary today and will be essential tomorrow.

The much-publicized electronic computers are vital in modern science, but they can’t add two and two without trained personnel to operate them.

A computer, however, doesn’t replace the mathematician any more than an adding machine replaces an accountant. The mathematician must help to design the computer, understand what material to store in its memory banks, know how to feed problems into it, and be able to read the results that come out.

Medicine

The medical profession is dedicated to repairing and healing the human body. Although many mysteries still surround medicine, doctors are trying to solve these mysteries of the body through research.

A medical scientist may decide to specialize exclusively in the use of radioactive materials. If so, he is called a radiologist and is an expert in the use of radiation beams, injection of radioisotopes, and implantation of radioactivity into the body, as well as in the use of the more familiar radium and X-ray devices.

The practicing physician also, after receiving special training and licensing, may use radiation and radioisotopes as another tool in his little black bag. For instance, a suspected thyroid disorder can be diagnosed by following the behavior of a small, harmless dose of radioactive iodine in the patient. A tumor may be brought under control with the use of a strong beam of radiation directed at the diseased tissue.

Behind the physician stand teams of medical research scientists testing the effects of radiation on tissues and cultures and serums in the laboratory. They strive to increase knowledge of the medical benefits of atomic energy.

Nurses in nuclear medicine understand how to handle radioactivity. Pharmacists who enter the field prepare radioactive pharmaceuticals for clinical uses.

Related Fields

It is convenient to discuss scientific activity in the general categories of physics, chemistry, biology, geology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine, but strict lines are not actually drawn around these areas.

There are in the United States today about 2000 individuals who are engaged in a profession that did not even exist twenty years ago: these are the health physicists, who are neither medical men nor physicists. They have backgrounds in physics, true, and they combine this training with training in physiology, botany, chemistry, mathematics, and instrumentation.

It is the duty of the health physicist to evaluate and control any potential hazard in the use of nuclear energy. The health physicist understands the effects of radiation on human tissues and plants. He keeps a constant check on radiation levels in installations where radioactivity is used; he foresees emergencies that might arise; he eliminates unsafe practices; and he assures that personnel working in nuclear energy fields are free from related hazards. The health physicist is a key figure in making the nuclear energy industry one of the safest in the world.

Another profession that spans the sciences is that of the technical writer or editor. In a laboratory he translates the notebooks of the scientist into reports. In an editorial office he edits manuscripts for publication. On a newspaper staff he translates scientific findings into articles for the public.

It is difficult, undesirable, and usually impossible, for a scientist to confine himself to his own field because all sciences affect one another. A chemist may use the tools of the physicist and become a physical chemist; a physicist may go in the other direction and become a chemical physicist. It is not uncommon