Science and the technology it enables have always had a close relationship with war. But World War II took the destructive power of science to a new level. For much of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear annihilation remained high, and many of the public were apprehensive about governments and the scientists working for them.
many physicists noticed That the genie came out of the bottle and recognized or shared this disbelief. They held conferences and drafted policies to distance themselves from the nuclear threat. Others have tried to interpret nuclear technology more positively by focusing on energy and medical advances. These efforts to reassure the public continue to this day, as scientists take similar steps against new and potentially disruptive technologies such as gene editing.
During World War II, the relatively unknown Egyptian physicist Sameera Musa was one of the key figures in trying to use atomic energy for good and in an effort to involve the general public in that choice. was. Her research makes her a worthy role model for women and physicists around the world, but because her crusade for peaceful nuclear power ultimately costs her life, she Little is known: Moussa was assassinated when she was 35 and remains unsolved to this day.
Research on Moussa’s background and X-rays
Unfortunately, of the few records of Musa’s life today, most are second-hand accounts or retellings of rumors, making it difficult to trace her movements.She was born just north of Cairo March 3, 1917There is not much information about her childhood, but we do know that her mother died of cancer when Musa was young. Her mother’s death later inspired Musa to study the use of radiation for cancer treatment.After her mother died, Musa and her father moved to Cairo, where her father lived in a hotel. I launched a business. Some reports claim that Musa’s father was a political activist, which may have influenced her later activities.
After a successful primary and secondary school, Musa was accepted into a nuclear physics program at Cairo University, specifically focused on X-rays. Musa could not have chosen a better field of study in the 1930s. X-rays were becoming a common tool for many hospitals and private practitioners, as it was standard for each facility to have his own X-ray machine. In the United States, this prompted the formation of many organizations of x-ray technicians and his x-ray focused journals. Europe, as a scientist, had an even longer history with the development of X-rays. Madame Curie Transported mobile X-ray machines on the battlefields of World War I.
Like others before her, Musa studied radioisotope It is a technique that was used to create medical images and is still used today. Her doctoral work caught the attention of Mustafa Musharafa, the Director of Science at Cairo University. recruited Musa is a teacher.She then became an assistant professor there, apparently first lady Anywhere to teach in a university environment while completing her PhD. This was an almost impossible achievement, as many Egyptian universities were still dominated by British and foreign professors. Nevertheless, Moussa achieved her first series of achievements.
find the fission formula
Her reputation enabled Moussa to travel to England in the mid-1940s, where she completed her doctorate. There, she collaborated with several researchers to further advance nuclear physics. Moussa, along with her colleagues, developed equations that help explain how her X-rays are produced from cheap metals like copper. According to 2022 Arabian interior Article, Moussa, “Research laid the groundwork for the revolution and affordability and safety of nuclear medicine.”
Excited by this discovery, Moussa continued to focus on medical applications, such as reducing patient exposure time to X-rays and making X-ray procedures more mobile and flexible. “I would make nuclear therapy as accessible and cheap as aspirin,” she said. Still, she was concerned that this formula could be twisted to create something more lethal: the atomic bomb.
