What The Heck Is Health Physics? The name sounds like it is all
about pendulums and inclined planes, but it is really about
radiation protection. The most entertaining story about the
origin of the job description “health physicist” is that it came
about during the “Manhattan Project” when scientists needed to
protect themselves from the radioactive materials they used.
According to the story, the term, “health physicist” was chosen
to be an intentionally confusing description to disguise the
work on the atomic bomb. Over the last 60 years, health physics
has developed into an important and complex scientific
discipline and profession. There are entire university degree
programs devoted to it as well as professional-level
certification. In keeping with the confusing name, health
physicists have many confusing terms and units such as rem, rad,
roentgen, effective dose equivalent, and committed dose, just to
name a few. If that weren’t confusing enough, health physicists
also use the international system of uni