A Study Of The Radium Girls In The Early 20th Century

The 20th century was an era of vigorous development of new science and technology,which profoundly changed the operation of society and brought people convenience,comfort and a new way of life.At the same time,the development of new science and technology also made the practice of human interaction more and more complicated,and gave rise to a large number of ethical issues concerning the survival and future of human beings.It was against this background that the Radium Girls occurred,which was triggered by the misuse of radium element and was a tragedy in the history of radiobiology,with far-reaching effects that still attract the attention of scholars and the public.Radium Girls led scientists to study and explore radioactivity more deeply,and the government established standards and laws to protect the safety of users.The series of thoughts triggered by the Radium Girls,especially the relationship between technology and risk,technology and ethics embodied in the historical process of the incident,have important reference and reference significance to the ethical responsibility in the development of science and technology in the world in the era of knowledge economy.In 1898,Marie Curie discovered the element radium for the first time and successfully extracted pure radium in 1910.The discovery of the element radium brought physics and chemistry into a new stage,and the properties and applications of the element radium made it a sought-after object by scientists and the public.In 1917,the United States Radium Corporation applied radium to the production of glow-in-thedark products and employed a large number of female workers to paint the products with "Undark".Due to long-term exposure to radioactivity,a large number of female workers of the company suffered from radium poisoning and even died,which led to social concern and became known as the Radium Girls.The incident was an important point of change in the perception of radioactivity in the community,including scientists,and led to a decline in public participation in emerging science and technology and a gradual return to sanity.The incident stimulated ethical thinking about emerging science and technology and the potential risks of its application,and became an important case in the history of science and technology ethics.The thesis uses a combination of documentary analysis,case study and historical research methods to take the Radium Girls as the research object to sort out the whole process of radium as an emerging scientific achievement from its discovery in the laboratory,industrial application,emergence of hazards,scientific investigation to the exposure of facts,and to analyze some of the impacts of the incident.The study also analyzes some impacts of the incident,and explores the risk characteristics and insights of the emerging science from its emergence to application.This study concludes that the Radium Girls has gone through three stages:the first stage was the widespread use of radium before the 1920s,when the limitations of people’s knowledge and the widespread use of radium made scientists and the general public relax their vigilance about the hazards of radium;radium as an industrial resource became the main material for large-scale commercial production,and a large number of women were involved in the discovery of radium.As an industrial resource,radium became the main material for commercial production,and a large number of female workers started to work with radium.The second stage was the exposure of the hazards of radium in the mid-1920s.Since there was no precedent of the hazards of radium,the relevant departments did not deal with it seriously in time;although scientists conducted research and investigation,the research report was not released in time because the U.S.Radium Corporation wanted to hide the relevant facts deliberately.The third stage was the identification of the hazards of radium element at the end of 1920s,after another group of scientists investigated and researched,it was confirmed that the radioactivity of radium element was the reason for the female workers’ body injuries;after the media exposure,the female workers were compensated by the American radium company,and the incident was ended temporarily,and the radioactive hazards of radium element were understood by scientists since then.Through the in-depth study of the Radium Girls,the thesis summarizes four characteristics and three revelations in the process of the emerging scientific discovery to application represented by the Radium Girls.The are four characteristics:first,the Radium Girls is highly relevant to the background of the times;second,the Radium Girls is closely related to the investigation of scientists;third,the mass media plays an important role in the Radium Girls,and fourthly,the influence of the Radium Girls has experienced a development from small to large and from point to surface.The three are revelations:first,blind technological optimism should be reflected and the possible ethical problems of science and technology brought by the power of science and technology should be treated prudently;second,in the process of emerging science moving from the laboratory to the market,scientists should fully consider the ethical responsibilities of science and technology,actively prevent,control and deal with the potential risks of emerging science,and guide the public to view the application of emerging science rationally;third,the main body of science communication should strengthen the ethics of responsibility.In addition to scientific researchers,mass media,government and science and technology managers,and the public should all take their due responsibility.