Anniversary of Edith Hinkley Quimby

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, the whole world was searching for radioactive substances application, in particular radium. Radium can be used to treat oncology, but no one knew the verge of overdosing and underdosing. The founder of radiobiology can be considered Lewis Gray, who introduced unit for absorbed dose of radiation [1]. It was Edith Quimby who started looking for that therapeutically effective absorbed dose. It’s to calculate the minimum effective dose of activity for each patient. She has written 75 articles, published books that have become used concepts in biophysics, and handbooks of modern editions of radiologists. She became the first woman and the first physicist to become president of the American Radium Society, an organization dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer. At one time, Arthur Compton spoke about the need to introduce and apply physics in medicine, and Quimby, in her acceptance speech, outlined the need for an organization of medical physicists, and in 1958, owing to her, the American Society of Medical Physicists was created. Edith Quimby was and remains an iconic figure in the history of the development of medical physics.