Louis Gray

See also: Gray

Louis Harold Gray , only sons of a London family, was born the November 10th 1905 with London. It grows in a underprivileged environment. His/her father, silent, took along his son in long Sunday walks. They devoted to challenges of mental Calcul. He learned from his mother the house works and manual. An aunt taught him one day how to manufacture a library starting from old planks of wood. It was the beginning of a long passion which accompanied Gray until the end by its life.

At the school, it showed an lively interest for the natural science and mathematics. It was interested less in the languages, learning the Latin in the goal to enrich its technical vocabulary and the French to reach to the specialists Latinists.

At 13 years, Hall, as it was called by his comrades, obtained for its good performances a purse to go to study with the famous boarding school of the Christ' S Hospital. He then saw his parents only at the time of the school holidays.

At 18 years, Gray was fascinated by the Nuclear physics, a discipline having just been born a few years before at the university of Cambridge when Ernest Rutherford was a pioneer of the experimental discipline.

Rutherford was a national hero for the British and, in fact, Gray was convinced of its success when the Christmas Day 1923, it accepted a fellowship to go to study with Cambridge with the Trinity College, where Rutherford taught.

In Trinity College, Gray studied the Physique, the Mathématiques and the Chimie.

Having passed the second cycle first of its promotion, it to him was granted the great privilege to become member of the very famous laboratory Cavendish in Cambridge. The British physicists more for the time taught then in Cavendish: Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940), discoverer of the electron and Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974), discoverer of the Neutron.

Gray began its work from thesis in 1924 by systematically studying the effects on the matter of each type of radiation known at the time. Then it turned to the development of an experiment making it possible to measure the cosmic Rayonnement, still largely unknown.

It obtained its Doctorat at the Cavendish laboratory in 1930.

The principle of the room with cavity, known today like the principle of Bragg-Gray, was formulated by Gray in collaboration with William Lawrence Bragg which had succeeded Rutherford.

Gray also leant on the absorption of the Gamma rays energy.

It is in Cambridge that it met that which will become his wife, Frieda, a blind young girl who made studies of Théologie Méthodiste.

Gray found the scientific research on the enthralling nuclear physics, but it wished to be useful and apply its knowledge for the wellbeing of humanity. It highly was interested in progress of the incipient Nuclear medicine which developed cancerous methods of treatment of Tumeur S using Ionizing rays. Mount Vermont Hospital located at Northwood, in Suburbs of London, was institution pionnière in field, and when Gray learned in 1933 that this hospital sought a physicist to measure radiations of Radium and X-rays and to study their effects on biological fabrics, he was presented without hesitating even if the wages suggested were quite less than that from which he profited in Cambridge.

The Radiobiology, mixing biology, medicine and physics, was an incipient discipline at that time. The contribution that Gray brought there was the base necessary which it needed.

The most important tool whose Gray laid out was a generator of neutrons of 400 Kv, with which it could directly measure the effects of the radiations on the biological Tissus. It accumulated a gigantic quantity of data during one period 7 years. These data had a priceless value for the development of the Radiothérapie of the Cancer S.

During the Second world war, Gray refused an invitation to work on the neutrons with Cambridge. He refused to take part in military research.

After the war, Gray had a station with the Radio-therapeutic Research Institute of the London' S Hammersmith Hospital where one offered the occasion to him to build powerful a Cyclotron. This accelerator allowed him fresh progress in the comprehension of the biological effects of the radiations. Its objective was to intensify the effect of the radiation on the level of the tumoral cells, while saving the close healthy cells.

After dissensions with the director of the institution, Gray stopped its research in Hammersmith Hospital in 1954.

It turned over then to Northwood, where the first institute of Radiobiologie in the world was built according to its plans. It bears from now on its name (Gray Laboratory off the Cancer Research Campaign).

The research institute was equipped with the most modern material and offered ideal work conditions. The principal aim of its research was then the study of the " effect of the oxygène" , i.e. influence of the Oxygen on the radiosensitivity of the cells and possible interest of the inert use of Gas S like protection measure.

The new method of Spectroscopie by resonance of spin of the electron was also studied in detail.

The work of Gray was recognized largely by the experts of the field and of many organizations and committees of experts asked him his participation or many councils.

The British Institute off Radiology elects it as president. Gray accepted the price Röntgen as well as the Médaille Faraday of the Royal Society for its contributions in the field of research on the radiations.

In 1958, it is named Vice-président International commission of the Radiological Units, President of British Units Committee, president of the Association of Research on Radiations, president of the Council of the Medical research, sub-committee of the heavy particles.

It obtains the Barclay Medal in 1960. In 1961, it enters in Royal Society.

Who of other that Louis Harold Gray, the father of the Radiobiology, could be selected to chair the international congress of International Association for Radiation Research Harrogate in 1962?

The preparation of this congress lasted 3 years. Work required too much energy of this ambitious. Little time before the end of the congress, Gray had a attacks, from which it never went back fully. He died the July 9th 1965 with Northwood.

Its ashes were carried on the small island of Alderney, the " paradise vert" of Louis Harold Gray.

The name of Gray from now on is used everywhere in the world as a unit of the international system. The Gray (Gy) is the unit of the absorptive amount, specific energy and Kerma ( kinetic energy in matter ). 1 Gray is the amount of energy absorptive by a homogeneous medium of a mass of 1 kg when it is exposed to an ionizing ray bringing an energy of 1 Joule, 1 Gy = 1 J/kg.

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