NEW
YORK, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1957
JOSEPH HAMILTON,
ATOMIC PHYSICIAN
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19 (AP)— Dr. Joseph G. Hamilton, a leader in atomic medicine at the University of California at Berkeley, died here today in Children's Hospital from complications of leukemia. He was 49 years old.A university spokesman said it is believed he contracted leukemia, a cancer-like disease of the white blood cells, as a result of his work. Authorities listed his death as an industrial accident.
Dr. Hamilton is believed to have been the first ever to inject a radioisotope intravenously in a human being. With Dr. Robertstone, University of California. Professor of Radiology, he treated a leukemia patient with radiosodium at the university medical center here on March 23, 1936.
He also was a pioneer in the use of radioiodine to study and treat thyroid disease. During World. War II he helped investigate nuclear effects on metabolism for the Manhattan District project which produced the atomic bomb.
Dr. Hamilton was director of the Crocker Radiation Laboratory at the university and the 60-inch cyclotron.
He was a consultant on medical problems to the Atomic Energy Commission, the Army and the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory. From 1946 to 1949 he worked on radiation problems for the United States Public Health Service.
From: The New York Times, Wednesday, 20 Feb 1957, page 33.
Note: An In Memoriam (1959) in the University of California digital library gives the date of death as 18 Feb 1957.
See also:
- Today in Science History event description for 11 Nov 1907, birth of Joseph Hamilton.
