Early research on the biological effects of microwave radiation: 1940–1960

Summary

Two overriding considerations shaped the development of early research on the biological effects of microwave radiation—possible medical application (diathermy) and uncertainty about the hazards of exposure to radar. Reports in the late 1940s and early 1950s of hazards resulting from microwave exposure led to the near abandonment of medical research related to microwave diathermy at the same time that military and industrial concern over hazards grew, culminating in the massive research effort known as ‘the Tri-Service program’ (1957–1960). Both the early focus on medical application and the later search for hazards played important roles in dictating how this field of research developed as a science.