Catalogue description Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of Harold Miller OBE (1909-1995), medical physicist

SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL NCUACS 92.5.00/A.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/A.260

SECTION B CAMBRIDGE NCUACS 92.5.00/B.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/B.36

SECTION C EARLY TELEVISION NCUACS 92.5.00/C.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/C.38

SECTION D MEDICAL PHYSICS NCUACS 92.5.00/D.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/D.312

SECTION E LECTURES AND PUBLICATIONS NCUACS 92.5.00/E.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/E.80

SECTION F SOCIETIES AND ORGANISATIONS NCUACS 92.5.00/F.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/F.223

SECTION G VISITS AND CONFERENCES NCUACS 92.5.00/G.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/G.104

SECTION H TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OVERSEAS NCUACS 92.5.00/H.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/H.359

SECTION J RELIGION NCUACS 92.5.00/J.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/J.150

SECTION K CORRESPONDENCE NCUACS 92.5.00/K.1-NCUACS 92.5.00/K.13

INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS

The material in this collection covers the period 1912-1995. It is presented in ten sections in the order given in the list of contents.

Section A, Biographical, covers the period 1912-1995. The material includes obituaries and biographical accounts, papers on Miller's research for Growing up with Primitive Methodism, career records, personal diaries, appointment diaries and notebooks, family papers and photographs. The diaries and notebooks are of interest for the light they throw on a great variety of his interests and activities. Although Miller does not appear to have kept diaries continuously throughout his life there are diaries for the Second World War and immediate post war periods and also for a number of overseas visits later in his career. The notebooks, 1966, 1970-1993, include notes on medical physics, overseas technical assistance assignments, the day care unit at Weston Park Hospital and religious and community activities, and may include lists of things to do, lists of slides for talks and drafts of letters.

Section B, Cambridge, provides a record mostly in the form of notebooks and research reports of Miller's undergraduate and postgraduate studies and a copy of his PhD thesis (awarded 1935). The notebooks record notes on lectures attended, experimental work and his reading. A number of leading Cavendish scientists are represented by notes on their lectures, including P.M.S. Blackett, J.D. Cockcroft, R.H. Fowler, N.F. Mott, E. Rutherford and C.T.R. Wilson.

Section C, Early television, presents a sequence of Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) Ltd Research Department Reports, 1934-1942, a few off-prints and published papers, predominantly from the late 1930s, and miscellaneous papers re the history of television. Many of these miscellaneous papers relate to an international conference on the history of television, held at the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London in 1986.

Section D, Medical physics, presents an alphabetical sequence of Miller's topic folders in such areas as radiation hazards, radiation protection, radiotherapy, ultrasonics and X-ray dosimetry. The contents of the folders are principally off-prints and duplicated papers with a little correspondence and manuscript notes and cover the period 1926-1982. Miscellaneous papers outside the alphabetical sequence include papers relating to the 'early history of isotopes' and the history of radiology.

Section E, Lectures and publications, covers the period 1934-1991. There are drafts for Miller's talks and shorter publications on a wide range of subjects for a variety of professional and non-professional audiences, a collection of off-prints of his scientific papers, and reviews of Miller and J. Walter's A short textbook of radiotherapy, 1950. The topics of his talks included atomic physics, nuclear weapons, medical physics, pacifism and science and religion, and there is a little material relating to his teaching.

Section F, Societies and organisations, presents records of Miller's involvement or interest in the activities of eleven organisations including professional bodies such as the British Institute of Radiology and the Hospital Physicists Association. Miller kept a substantial record of the activities of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, comprising newsletters and some British Pugwash Group and conference papers, 1957-1995 (bulk 1975-1995). There is also good documentation of the Weston Park Hospital, Sheffield, Day Care Unit. This opened in 1982 with a remit to support and help patients who had recently received treatment at Weston Park Hospital (radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy) and found it difficult to cope in the community. Miller chaired the working group established in 1979 and the Weston Park Development Fund from its inception in 1980 to 1991, and there is a substantial record in terms of minutes and committee papers.

Section G, Visits and conferences, documents a number of overseas trips, 1947-1986, including holidays and visits to family members in Australia and New Zealand, as well as visits primarily with a scientific purpose. Of particular interest is an extended visit to the USA, February - April 1947 which related in part to the provision of a 2 M.E.V. X-ray generator for the Sheffield radiotherapeutic centre.

Section H, Technical assistance overseas, is the largest in the collection. It provides substantial documentation of a number of overseas consultancies undertaken by Miller on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Kingdom Overseas Development Administration (ODA). Miller was particularly associated with Ghana, which he visited in 1965 and 1970; India where he was associated with the International Cancer Centre, Neyyoor, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Bombay, the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad and the Barnard Institute of Radiology, Madras, 1965-1994; and Thailand where he was an IAEA consultant in 1976. He also visited Afghanistan on behalf of the IAEA in 1976 on his way to the Thailand assignment. The documentation includes reports to the sponsoring agencies and an extensive correspondence with the agencies, colleagues and his family whilst he was away from home. Miller was greatly interested in the way of life, culture and religion of the countries visited and this is reflected in the surviving materials.

Section J, Religion, reflects Miller's commitment to the Methodist Church and the important role of a wide range of social, peace and ethical concerns in his religious outlook. The manuscript notes for his sermons form a significant component of the papers in the section and cover the period 1944-1995 (bulk 1971-1995). There are also records of his association with the Christian pacifist organisation, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and of a number of community action groups in the Sheffield area associated with the Methodist Church. Miller also brought together materials, mostly printed, on such topics as science and religion and science and ethics and these are presented in this section.

Section K, Correspondence, is slight. It is entirely the contents of Miller's 'Letters to save' folder. A small number of principal correspondents are presented in a short alphabetical sequence. The remaining correspondence is listed chronologically. The period covered by the correspondence is 1955-1995 but it predominantly dates from the last few years of Miller's life.

There is also an index of correspondents.

The work of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, and the production of this catalogue, are made possible by the support of the following societies and organisations:

The Biochemical Society

The British Crystallographic Association

The Geological Society

The Higher Education Funding Council for England

The Institute of Physics

The Royal Society

Trinity College Cambridge

The Wellcome Trust

We are very grateful to Mr Tom Miller for making the papers available and for his advice and encouragement.

Miller, Harold, 1905-1995, medical physicist

Powell, Timothy E

Harper, Peter

NOT ALL THE MATERIAL IN THIS COLLECTION MAY YET BE AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION. ENQUIRIES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO:

THE CURATOR OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

WESTERN BANK

SHEFFIELD

The papers were received from Mr Tom Miller, son, via Sheffield University Library in December 1999 and from Mr Miller directly in May 2000.

• Medical sciences

OUTLINE OF THE CAREER OF HAROLD MILLER

Harold Miller was born in Staveley, north east Derbyshire on 14 September 1909. The two dominant influences in his family background were Primitive Methodism and the emerging Labour movement and these influences remained strong throughout his life. He was educated at Netherthorpe Grammar School where his academic abilities were recognised and he was encouraged to remain an extra year to try and gain admission to Cambridge. After much family discussion, this was agreed and Miller obtained an open scholarship to St John's College to read Natural Sciences.

Miller graduated with first class honours in both parts of the tripos in 1931 and then undertook research at the Cavendish Laboratory supervised by J. Chadwick. The degree of PhD was awarded in 1935 for his thesis on 'The transmutation of light elements by Alpha particles'. In 1934 Miller joined Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) Ltd of Hayes, Middlesex, and did research of a fundamental nature in high vacuum and electron physics, photoelectric phenomena and electronic optics in a team which established the first successful system for commercial television transmission. He married his wife Mary in 1937. They had three sons.

The onset of war presented particular difficulties to Miller arising from his longstanding pacifist beliefs. He declared his unwillingness to undertake military work, and was put in charge of refugee scientists working in other areas. In due course he decided to work in hospital and was appointed Physicist to the Sheffield National Centre for Radiotherapy in 1942. Although wartime work in radiotherapy was largely routine, he was well placed to contribute to the development and expansion of medical physics after the war and in the new National Health Service.

In 1946 a decision was taken to install at Sheffield a 2 M.E.V. Van de Graaf X-ray generator, the first of its kind in Britain. It was manufactured in Boston, Massachusetts and, as part of the planning process, Miller made an extended visit to the USA, February - April 1947. In the late 1940s radioactive isotopes from Harwell became available for clinical use, opening up new approaches to the diagnosis of metabolic disorders. With E.J. Wayne, Professor of Pharmacology and Radiotherapeutics, University of Sheffield, Miller studied sodium metabolism using sodium 24. They began to evaluate thyroid function in patients with iodine 131 which in larger doses was soon established as an effective treatment in selected patients with thyroid overactivity. Many other techniques, including ultrasound imaging, were established. Medical Physics eventually became an independent Regional Department with Miller as Chief Physicist. Numerous teaching demands were made on him including courses for doctors intending to specialise in radiology, and the training of radiographers, nurses, and technical staff, while the University of Sheffield required help with undergraduate courses. Miller became Honorary Lecture before receiving the title of Associate Professor in the University of Sheffield in 1972. When Miller retired in 1975 he left a large and comprehensive service department with an academic department nearing completion in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.

Miller's professional distinction was acknowledged by his peers when he became President of the Hospital Physicists' Association and President of the British Institute of Radiology. He also invited to undertake a number of overseas assignments on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Authority, the World Health Organisation and the UK Overseas Development Administration in support of medical physics in Afghanistan, Ghana, India and Thailand. These assignments continued well into retirement and his contacts with a number of research and treatment centres especially in India lasted many years.

In retirement he was also a major driving force in establishing a day care unit in the grounds of Weston Park Hospital, and much involved in community projects associated with the Methodist Church.

He was awarded the OBE in 1972 and an honorary degree of the University of Sheffield in 1980. He died on 4 October 1995.

Towards the end of his life he undertook research into his own historical roots and prepared an autobiographical account which was published in 1995 with an introduction by the Right Hon. Tony Benn M.P. (Growing up with Primitive Methodism, Fifth Chapel Aid Lecture).