This booklet has presented a sample of the ways whole body counters add
to man’s knowledge and increase his ability to manage conditions and
processes important to his health and well-being. Radioactive substances
occur naturally within our own bodies and all other materials. Whole
body counters measure this radioactivity, or any which may have been
added from artificial sources.
We have seen how these sensitive instruments help to prove hypotheses
difficult to verify otherwise and how they thereby may stimulate new and
fruitful scientific experimentation. We have learned how whole body
counters add to our knowledge of normal processes in healthy bodies and
detect disease or abnormalities resulting from dangerous conditions.
[Illustration: Figure 23 _A University of Illinois counter large enough
to examine an adult steer, above. A Cornell University counter used for
animal-parasite studies, below._]
[Illustration: Figure 23, below]
[Illustration: Figure 24 _A trailer-mounted whole body counter used for
research. School children were examined in a project to determine
possible pathways by which radioactivity may enter the human body._]
Each fact uncovered by whole body counters seems to trigger more
penetrating research. This is how science advances. And with the advance
of science comes knowledge on which we may build intelligent behavior
and find solutions to problems affecting our lives.