Article ID: CBB001211534

Biography of an Artifact: The Theratron Junior and Canada's Atomic Age (2011)

unapi

In this article I examine the life of an artifact, the Theratron Junior, a sleek green radiotherapy machine from 1956 displayed in a permanent exhibit at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. It is currently seen through the lens of Canadian innovations, but the Theratron Junior brims with features and history that touch on several other historical narratives---scientific, commercial, labour, aesthetics and patient experience. The striking sea foam green paint, for example, has inspired an independent exhibition at the museum on the colour green in twentieth-century medicine. In addition, research into the former life of the specific machine on display (serial no. 15 from 1956), including the people who made and used it, has produced a reinvigorated artifact biography that enriches and challenges conventional narratives from Canada's early atomic era. The lessons from careful artifact studies are readily clear---we are missing opportunities by taking for granted the most familiar items on our museum floors.

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Description On a “radiotherapy machine from 1956 displayed in a permanent exhibit at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.” (from the abstract)


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001211534/

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Authors & Contributors
Gerber, Lucie
Razumenko, Fedir
Hatfield, Philip
Hagmark-Cooper, Hanna
Sandweiss, Eric
Chelnik, Judy M.
Concepts
Museums
Exhibits
Medical technology
Therapeutic practice; therapy; treatment
Artifacts
Technology
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
20th century
Places
Canada
United States
Northwest Passage
London (England)
Polar regions
Italy
Institutions
Smithsonian Institution
American Museum of Natural History, New York
Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.)
University of Nebraska
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