Historical Role of Lauriston S. Taylor in American Radiation Safety and Protection

What do we need to know about radiation, especially 60 years after the Atomic Bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? It is a great honor and pleasure for me to introduce Dr. Lauriston Sale Taylor on this special occasion, who was a leader in American radiation safety and health protection before and after the Second World War. We can learn a lot from Dr. Taylor as well as from our own experience and knowledge on Atomic Bomb Survivors (Hibakusha): how to protect ourselves, how to protect our families and how to make reasonable social and political choices on unpredictable accidents that may happen at nuclear power stations and nuclear terrorism, and also about medical radiological devices. I had the rare opportunity to listen to "A Tribute to the Life and Scientific Accomplishments of Lauriston S Taylor" at the Forty-First Annual Meeting of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) on March 31, 2005 at the Crystal City Marriott conference center in Arlington, Virginia. With the kind permission of the President of NCRP, Dr. Thomas Tenforde and the speaker, Dr. Robert Gorson, I have summarized the accomplishments and spirit of a pioneer in American radiation safety and protection as accurately as possible, although at first glimpse it may seem unrelated to this special editorial comment