title: Suffering and death among early American Roentgenologists: the power of remotely anatomizing the living body in fin de siècle America.
abstract: This manuscript has two aims. First, I extend the historiography on early American roentgenology that demonstrates that dozens of early adopters knowingly suffered intense pain, mutilation, and death for the sake of the X-ray. The objective is to pinpoint as precisely as possible when and to what extent the roentgenologists knew of the life-threatening risks of X-ray exposure. Second, I articulate a partial explanation for their behavior that is rooted in the social power of remotely anatomizing the living body in fin de siècle American scientific and medical culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioethics & Interdisciplinary Studies, the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. goldbergd@ecu.edu
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Goldberg
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000266:history*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000266:history*; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000266:history*; D011855:Radiodermatitis / Q000266:history*; D011859:Radiography / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States