IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB001211534

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

Scientia Canadensis: Journal of the History of Canadian Science, Technology, and Medicine
Volume: 34, no. 1
Issue: 1
Pages: 51-63

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Academia.edu

Electromagnetic waves; radiation Artifacts Medical technology Therapeutic practice; therapy; treatment Exhibits Technology Museums 20th century, late Canada

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.

...More

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/

Citations Indexes

Similar Citations

Article DeVorkin, David H.; (2011)
Space Artifact or Nazi Weapon? Displaying the Smithsonian's V-2 Missile, 1976--2011 (/isis/citation/CBB001210149/)

Article Sandweiss, Eric; (2014)
“History and Reality Have Become the Same Thing”: City Museums and City Plans in London, 1912--2012 (/isis/citation/CBB001421590/)

Book Mary Jo Arnoldi; (2016)
Engaging Smithsonian Objects through Science, History, and the Arts (/isis/citation/CBB229645474/)

Book Conn, Steven; (2010)
Do Museums Still Need Objects? (/isis/citation/CBB001022383/)

Article Philip Hatfield; (2015)
Exhibition Note: Lines in the Ice at the British Library (/isis/citation/CBB883513183/)

Article Parr, Joy; (2006)
A Working Knowledge of the Insensible? Radiation Protection in Nuclear Generating Stations, 1962--1992 (/isis/citation/CBB001030040/)

Chapter Fausto Casi; (2016)
La comunicazione in trincea: 1914-1918 (/isis/citation/CBB313825758/)

Article Rossi, Michael; (2008)
Modeling the Unknown: How to Make a Perfect Whale (/isis/citation/CBB000932155/)

Chapter David Matless; (2018)
The Agriculture Gallery: Displaying Modern Farming in the Science Museum (/isis/citation/CBB613598449/)

Article Hagmark-Cooper, Hanna; (2014)
The Åland Maritime Museum (/isis/citation/CBB001422531/)

Thesis Homchick, Julie; (2009)
Displaying Controversy: Evolution, Creation, and Museums (/isis/citation/CBB001560804/)

Article Toon, Elizabeth A.; (2014)
The Machinery of Authoritarian Care: Dramatising Breast Cancer Treatment in 1970s Britain (/isis/citation/CBB001550932/)

Article Prud'homme, Julien; (2010)
“Professional Techs”: Machines, Technical Skills and Professional Aspirations in Hearing Prosthetics and Respiratory Care in Quebec, 1950--1990 (/isis/citation/CBB001211525/)

Article Jennifer Fraser; (2021)
Seizing the Means of Reproduction? Canada, Cancer Screening, and the Colonial History of the Cytopipette (/isis/citation/CBB836159819/)

Article Lucie Gerber; (2020)
Learning to Stand Tall: Idiopathic Scoliosis, Behavioral Electronics, and Technologically-Assisted Patient Participation in Treatment, C. 1969–1992 (/isis/citation/CBB431507377/)

Chapter Chelnik, Judy M.; (2013)
Collecting Medical Technology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History (/isis/citation/CBB001202348/)

Article Richards, Linda M.; (2013)
Fallout Suits and Human Rights: Disrupting the Technocratic Narrative (/isis/citation/CBB001211590/)

Article Dyck, Erika; (2006)
“Hitting Highs at Rock Bottom”: LSD Treatment for Alcoholism, 1950--1970 (/isis/citation/CBB000770625/)

Article Boudia, Soraya; (2009)
Radioisotopes “Economy of Promises”: On the Limits of Biomedicine in Public Legitimization of Nuclear Activities (/isis/citation/CBB000931751/)

Thesis Lyons, Luke Edward; (2007)
A Descriptive and Exploratory Analysis of Documented Electronic MedicalRecords Technology and Its Impact on the Education of Healthcare Workers inthe United States: 1985--2005 (/isis/citation/CBB001561547/)

Comments

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}