Rolf Maximilian Sievert (; 6 May 1896 – 3 October 1966) was a Swedish medical

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

whose major contribution was in the study of the biological effects of

ionizing radiation Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...

. Sievert was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. His parents were Max Sievert and Sofia Carolina Sievert, née Panchéen.Sekiya, M., Yamasaki, M.,
Rolf Maximilian Sievert (1896–1966): father of radiation protection
, ''Radiological Physics and Technology'', 9, 1–5 (2016). Retrieved 2 July 2021. In 1881, Max Sievert founded the Max Sievert Company in Stockholm. He served as head of the physics laboratory at Sweden's

Radiumhemmet Radiumhemmet is a non-surgical cancer treatment and radiotherapy research institution in Solna, Sweden. Since 1938, it has been a division of what is now the Karolinska University Hospital. It was founded in 1910 in central Stockholm as the first ...

from 1924 to 1937, after which he was appointed head of the department of radiation physics at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

. He played a pioneering role in the measurement of doses of radiation especially in its use in the diagnosis and treatment of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. In later years, he focused his research on the biological effects of repeated exposure to low doses of radiation. He was a founder of the International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee (IXRPC) in 1928, and served as it first chairman; this later became the

ICRP The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent, international, non-governmental organization, with the mission to protect people, animals, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. Its r ...

. He also chaired the

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was set up by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955. 21 states are designated to provide scientists to serve as members of the committee which ...

(UNSCEAR). He invented a number of instruments for measuring radiation doses, the most widely known being the Sievert chamber. In 1979, at the

Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures The General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCWM; french: Conférence générale des poids et mesures, CGPM) is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the intergovernmental organization established i ...

(General Conference on Weights and Measures or CGPM), the

SI unit The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

for ionizing radiation

dose equivalent Equivalent dose is a dose quantity '' H '' representing the stochastic health effects of low levels of ionizing radiation on the human body which represents the probability of radiation-induced cancer and genetic damage. It is derived from the ph ...

was named after him and given the name

sievert The sievert (symbol: SvNot be confused with the sverdrup or the svedberg, two non-SI units that sometimes use the same symbol.) is a unit in the International System of Units (SI) intended to represent the stochastic health risk of ionizing radi ...

(Sv). He had an extensive insect collection and his specimens can be found in Entomological Museum of Lund University. Rolf Sievert 1924

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Rolf Sievert, the man and the unit

Rolf Maximilian Sievert (1896–1966): father of radiation protection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sievert, Rolf Maximilian Swedish physicists 1896 births 1966 deaths Uppsala University alumni Karolinska Institute faculty Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Medical physicists Units of radiation dose Radiation protection

See also

References

External links