Word: gamma
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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When the primitive atomic bombs were exploded in the air over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, their radioactive residues were carried harmlessly into the stratosphere. Most of their free neutrons and high-energy gamma rays were "wasted." But the second Bikini bomb (exploded underwater) threw into the air millions of tons of radioactive seawater, which did more damage than the detonation. If an atomic bomb were exploded below the surface of the earth like a pre-atomic blockbuster, it would probably stir up a cloud of deadly radioactive dust over a wide area. Chunks of rubble, tossed like projectiles, might...
...well known that all radioactive radiations, including gamma rays and X rays, are in the form of separate particles. The Geiger counter counts them one for one, as one would count the pages in a book. However, some types of particles may easily be ten or more times as damaging to the tissues of the body as others...
Incidentally, a much more widely used and better-known relative of the meter that you described in the article is the Gamma Ray Pocket Dosimeter. Latest models are no b.rger than a fountain pen. They are worn with a clip in the pocket, and indicate at any time during the day the total quantity of radiation that the wearer has absorbed and so whether it is safe to continue at work. (DR.) O. G. LANDSVERK Chicago...
...thinks it is all right for civilians to know about it. The instrument's chief working parts are a small chamber, a bronze wire (charged by a battery) and a fine, platinum-coated quartz fiber one-thirtieth the thickness of a human hair. When X rays or gamma rays enter the chamber, they leave a trail of ions which collect on the wire, neutralize its charge and move the quartz fiber...
...there created a thing that Communists called the "Cominform" (meaning Communist Information Bureau) and which most of the rest of the world called the "New Comintern" or the "Little Comintern." To help them figure it out, the detective-statesmen had Dr. Watsons who were experts in everything from gamma rays to Lenin's writings. Piecing together a clue here and a clue there, the chancelleries had, by last weekend, made a little progress in solving the Mystery of Miszlakowice...