密歇根新闻广播 纪念爱丽丝 汉密尔顿医学博士去世45周年

This week marks the 45th anniversary of Dr. Alice Hamilton's death.

Hamilton was a leading expert in the field of occupational health and a pioneer in toxicology. She lived to the age of 101.

Dr. Howard Markel tells us that Hamilton lived and worked through a period of time that allowed her to break ground as both a physician and a woman.

He describes her achievements as "magnificent."

According to Markel, Hamilton became "very interested" in the Social Gospel movement, a religious movement in the late 19th century that sought to improve American society through the application of Christian¹ values.

"Helping² immigrants assimilate, helping the downtrodden get homes or jobs or things like that," Markel says.

Markel tells us she became further enamored with the work done by the women who founded Hull³ House, a settlement house that welcomed newly-arrived European immigrants, "where she later worked and lived for about 22 years," and decided⁴ that she wanted to become a doctor.

She graduated from the University of Michigan, one of few schools at the time that accepted women into its medical program.

Markel says she worked hard to stand out in a field dominated by men.

"She made sure she had all the accomplishments⁵ to be a first-rate physician and researcher and scholar," he says, spending time at the University of Minnesota, at Johns Hopkins, and in the laboratories of Leipzig, among others.

"She was the very model of a major physician, yet she had a hard time getting regular gigs because of her gender," he says.

Markel tells us Hamilton was the first woman appointed to the Harvard faculty⁶. "She also said famously ... 'I may have been the first woman appointed, but I wasn't the first woman who deserved to be appointed.'"

Occupational health was not a field of study that anyone had any real interest in, according to Markel, during a time where extremely dangerous work environments were the norm.

Hamilton tackled the topic with gusto.

She acted as sort of a secret agent, getting into factories and workplaces to observe firsthand the sort of dangers workers were routinely exposed to, according to Markel.

"She also was well-schooled enough in chemistry and toxicology to do studies, you know, what does exposure to picric acid do to you? Or, lead paint … or a variety of other toxins⁷ that we now know to be very deadly," Markel says.

While her work did have a significant effect on the state of workplace safety, Markel tells us there are many places in the world today that still struggle to provide safe and fair work environments.

"She did move the needle, but we still have many problems both in the United States and abroad," Markel says. "Alice Hamilton's work, I think she would say, is still undone⁸."

Dr. Howard Markel tells us more about the life and work of Dr. Alice Hamilton in our conversation above.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

7 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。