ABSTRACT
The trailblazers in radiation safety were not health physicists or safety professionals. Generally they were professional users of radiation who developed an interest in the safety aspects but who never devoted more than a fraction of their time to protecting people from radiation. For example, Elihu Thompson, who in 1896 demonstrated that X-rays could be injurious to humans, was a physicist; Wm. H. Rollins, who championed the shielding of X-ray tubes as early as 1902, was a dentist; and Rome V. Wagner, who in 1907 became the first to use film to monitor his own exposure, was a manufacturer of X-ray tubes. A great deal was learned in those early years. Kathren and Ziemer 1 note that “Although the basic techniques of X-ray protection were well known by 1905 … implementation was spotty.” Schubert and Lapp are not so sanguine in reporting the early tragedies. 2
