Book Talk on Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested History of Radiation Exposure

• In Event: Book Talks II

Abstract

The disproportionate effects caused to women and girls from the pursuit of nuclear weapons and energy require attention. Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) studies established the baseline data sets used today by the US Department of Energy and the International Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate radiation harm. The ABCC studies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims either did not notice, or chose to ignore, harm to women and girls exceeded effects to the average referent male body, the model for radiation health safety regulations. Nonprofits including Beyond Nuclear, the Gender and Radiation Impact Project (GRIP) and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) found this discrepancy starting in 2011. Mary Olson of GRIP and Arjun Makhijani (IEER) argue protecting the most vulnerable to radiation better ensures public health. Excerpts from Linda Richards coedited volume with Jacob Darwin Hamblin, Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested History of Radiation Exposure (OSU Press, 2023 November forthcoming) and their previously coedited volume “Connecting to the Living History of Radiation Exposure” in the Journal of the History of Biology vol 54, 2021, gives voice to why that protection is imperative.

Author

• Linda Marie Richards, Oregon State University