Benjamin Sonnenblick papers

Dr. Benjamin Sonnenblick was born in New York City in 1909. He was graduated from City College of New York, the University of Michigan, and New York University. He served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946.

Dr. Sonnenblick taught zoology at the Newark colleges of Rutgers University from 1947 to 1966 and was elected Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1965.

He is well known for two contributions to medicine and public health. In the late 1930s he developed a technique for slicing, staining, and photographing fruit fly eggs, which advanced understanding of cell division and differentiation. He also pioneered radiation protection, important because in the 1950s radiologists and technicians used x-rays and fluoroscopes without an understanding of how much radiation patients were receiving and the effects of such radiation exposure. His study resulted in the establishment of the Commission on Radiation Protection in the State of New Jersey and standards for training of technicians, calibration of machines, and lead shielding. His work also resulted in the removal of fluoroscopes from shoe stores, where they had been used as an aid to fitting shoes. Dr. Sonnenblick also participated in radiation protection on the federal level.

In 1934, Dr. Sonnenblick first came to Woods Hole, and his first full summer of research was in 1952. He continued to conduct research at the MBL every summer from the early 1960s until 1997. Through this many summers at the MBL, he developed a bibliography of 5,400 studies of low-dose radiation effects.