Louis Harold Gray

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Louis Harold Gray , FRS (born November 10, 1905 in London , † July 9, 1965 in Northwood ) was a British physicist and radiologist as well as the founder of radiobiology . His work dealt with the effects of radiation and radioactivity on biological systems. Among other things, he defined the SI unit of the absorbed radiation dose, later named after him as Gray (Gy) .

The only son of the married couple Gray studied physics, mathematics and chemistry on a scholarship at Trinity College in Cambridge after graduating from school - he was temporarily boarding school . He became a member of the Cavendish Laboratory and received his doctorate there in 1930 with a thesis on the absorption of hard gamma rays .

In 1934 he began his work at Mount Vernon Hospital in London , where in 1936, together with William Lawrence Bragg, he developed the Bragg-Gray equation with which the gamma-ray absorption of materials can be determined. From 1938 he researched the biological effects of neutron radiation . In 1940 he developed the concept of the relative biological effectiveness of neutron radiation. In 1950 he began studies on the treatment of tumor cells with positive oxygen pressure therapy as well as studies on the influence of the radiation sensitivity of cells as a function of the oxygen concentration in the tissue. 1953 was then the Gray Laboratory of the Cancer Research Campaign founded at Mount Vernon Hospital, where he and Jack W. Boag on the pulse radiolysis researched.

In January 1963, Gray suffered a severe stroke and died three years later. The ashes were transferred to his vacation island Alderney . His marriage to a theologian who had been blind since her youth had a son.

He was awarded the Roentgen Award (1938), the Sylvanus Thompson Medal (1953) and the Barclay Medal (1960) by the British Institute of Radiology and was its President in 1949/50. He was a founder and first chairman of the Association for Radiation Research . In 1961 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1962 he received an Honorary Doctorate (Honorary D.Sc.) from Leeds University .

Introduced by him in the 1930 unit wheel (Abbreviation for radiation absorbed dose ) of the absorbed dose was replaced in 1978 by the eponymous unit gray.

literature

  • Sinclair Wynchank: Louis Harold Gray . A Founding Father of Radiobiology. Springer, 2017, ISBN 978-3-319-43396-7 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-319-43397-4 (English).
  • Alma Howard: Louis Harold Gray . In: International Journal of Radiation Biology and Related Studies in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine . tape 9 , no. 5 , 1965, pp. 509–511 , doi : 10.1080 / 09553006514550571 (English, tandfonline.com [PDF] obituary).
  • JF Loutit, OCA Scott: Louis Harold Gray, 1905-1965 . In: Biogr. Mems Fell. R. Soc. tape 12 , 1966, pp. 195–217 (English, royalsocietypublishing.org [PDF; accessed January 27, 2018]).
  • Harold B. Hewitt: Louis Harold Gray: 1905-1965 . In: Radiation Research . tape 27 , no. 2 , February 1966, p. 159-161 , JSTOR : 3571907 (English, obituary).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BIR: Past Presidents. In: bir.org.uk. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Harold B. Hewitt: Louis Harold Gray: 1905-1965 . In: Radiation Research . tape 27 , no. 2 , February 1966, p. 159-161 , JSTOR : 3571907 (English, obituary).
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Louis Harold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British physicist and radiologist as well as the founder of radiobiology
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH July 9, 1965
Place of death Northwood