Example #149 was taken from page #296 of Strange Science…Portable Press
That Healthy Radioactive Glow
* Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, but it took decades of research for the long term effects of radiation exposure to be understood. But in the interim, the general public regarded the stuff with almost superstitious awe.
* Within a few years of its discovery, radium was-with no evidence whatsoever-being marketed as a restorative for youth and vitality. For that healthy glow, people used radium-laced toothpaste and face powder. Patients soaked in irradiated water to relieve rheumatism, and heating pads loaded with radioactive ore to soothe arthritis.
* In particular, radium was reputed to cure sexual impotence. It shed its magical light in places where the sun don’t shine as suppositories, and in the form of slender rods of radium-impregnated wax to be inserted into the urethra. Radium-dusted undergarments provided a less invasive option. But then consumers and people who worked with radium started dying of cancer.
* Now you can be grateful for those due-diligence regulations on the pharmaceutical industry. It may take years for innovative treatments to reach drugstores, but that’s the trade-off for making sure that your heating pad doesn’t give you cancer.
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or What, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your family and friends.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the relationships and dynamics between supports and barriers.
