Walter Dunham Claus Explained

Walter Dunham Claus
Birth Date:6 March 1903
Birth Place:St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Death Place:Golden, Colorado, U.S.
Education:Washington University in St. Louis (PhD)
Occupation:Biophysicist
Parents:Ernest Claus
Laura Claus

Walter Dunham Claus (March 6, 1903 – May 12, 1995) was an American biophysicist who worked in radiation biology and medical physics.

Early life and education

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and died in Golden, Jefferson County, Colorado. Claus's father Ernest Claus was from Germany and his mother Laura Claus was from Missouri. They resided at 310 N. Stein in St. Louis, Missouri.In 1931 received his Ph.D. in physics from Washington University in St. Louis, for a doctoral thesis titled Effect of Temperature on the Diffuse Scattering of X-rays from Rock Salt.[1] From 1931 through 1933, Claus continued to study X-ray effects as a National Research Council fellow. He then worked at the Mellon Institute and eventually joined the Atomic Energy Commission.[2] [3] [4]

Career

Atomic Energy Commission

In 1954, Claus oversaw the testing of samples from the Marshall Islands for radioactive fallout from the Castle Bravo explosion.[5] [6] From 1949-1955 he held the position of Chief in the Division of Biology and Medicine, AEC. Then from 1955-1967 he served as Special Assistant to Division Director, AEC.

Health Physics Society

Claus was a key member in the formation of the Health Physics Society and represented the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.[7] [8] [9] In 1955, he was one of the founding members and part of the initial board of directors.[10] He would also serve as the society's president during 1961 and 1962.

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Hull, Callie and West, Clarence J. (1931). Doctorates Conferred in the Sciences by American Universities, 1930-1931. National Research Council. Washington, D.C.
  2. Bugos. Glenn E.. 1989-01-01. Managing Cooperative Research and Borderland Science in the National Research Council, 1922-1942. Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences. en. 20. 1. 1–32. 10.2307/27757633. 27757633. 11622205. 0890-9997.
  3. Book: United States Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. Final Report: Ancillary materials. 1995. U.S. Government Printing Office. en.
  4. Book: Hamblin, Jacob Darwin. Poison in the Well: Radioactive Waste in the Oceans at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age. 2008-01-24. Rutgers University Press. 978-0-8135-4423-6. en.
  5. Book: A Radiological Study of Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands, During 1954-1955. 1955. University of Washington Applied Fisheries Laboratory. en.
  6. Jolly . J. Christopher . Thresholds of uncertainty: radiation and responsibility in the fallout controversy . . 1957/30847 . 57195914 .
  7. News of Science . Science . 15 July 1955 . 122 . 15 July 1955 . 112–117. 1955Sci...122..112W . 10.1126/science.122.3159.112 . 17751437 . w. l . S. .
  8. Reinig, William C. (July/August 1989). C.M. Patterson 1913-1989. HPS Newsletter, XVII(7/8): 19-20.
  9. Claus, Walter D. (1958) "What is Health Physics?." Health physics 1.1: 56-61.
  10. Kathren. R. L.. 1978-08-01. Health Physics Society: origins and development. 6379177. English.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Walter Dunham Claus".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.