Page 4 of Radiation Medicine QA Solutions 2008/2009 by PTW

time to learn for the future there is no good ­ unless you do it excerpt from the autobiography of dr herbert pychlau 1897-1971 when i returned to freiburg as a 27-year-old after a serious illness i thought about what i wanted to do prof wilhelm hammer in my future professional 1885-1949 inventor of the relay-based hammer doselife i considered qualifying meter and founder of ptw as a university lecturer but in the end fate would have it that i met dr hammer dr pychlau s supervisor annotation of the translator in the street he invited me to have a look at what he had been doing in the meantime and told me about his having set up a business for the production of his invention a dosemeter based on an electrostatic relay it was out of sheer friendship back then that i went on a series of trips either to set up dosemeters or to instruct their users in the operation dr hammer himself had serious financial difficulties to contend with and couldn t take many trips owing to his official duties at the university in this way i came to know all the leading radiologists in person after two years the situation of dr hammer s business was so precarious that he wanted to close it but knowing how much the radiologists were in need of such a device and how highly they appreciated it i thought it irresponsible to throw in the towel due to mere financial or secondary technical problems thanks to my efforts for the dosemeter the radiologists on one hand as well as an important company in the radiology branch on the other had gained a lot of confidence in my person the latter even agreed to back the further work of our business if i were willing to take over its management and so that is how in the year 1927 i took over the direction of the ptw in an honorary capacity as it were still i had to earn my living with the translation of patents it was not until after several hard initial years that the business could pay me a salary dosimetry was an exceptionally interesting field of work in those years so i stuck to it and abandoned all other plans i had once fostered dr herbert pychlau 1897-1971 physicist owner and director of ptw from 1927 until 1971 it set global standards for dosemeters the first dosemeter designed by dr hammer

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