{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T10:33:14Z","timestamp":1785407594638,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783555200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med. Hist."],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>This paper examines competing treatments\u2014surgery and radioactive iodine (RAI, I131)\u2014for hyperthyroidism in the context of post-colonial Cold War nuclear science in Taiwan. Although the U.S.-led Cold War Atoms for Peace project pushed for the globalization of nuclear medicine, it had to compete with the Japanese colonial legacy in Taiwan (Republic of China). This government-in-exile embraced nuclear science and ushered in RAI with staged rituals. However, this modern procedure failed to overtake the surgical approach (thyroidectomy); in fact, as late as the 1990s, well after RAI had become a standard procedure throughout the world, surgery was still the major treatment option for this common disease in Taiwan. The tension between the global and the local is rooted in infrastructure as well as the materiality, regulation and availability of the Iodine 131 isotope, and, finally, the customary practice of the surgical tradition, established since the colonial period. Thyroid diseases, especially endemic goiter, were an important issue in colonial medicine, and the study, diagnosis, and treatments of thyroid diseases were an integral part of colonial surgeons\u2019 identity. Surgical clinics had been a fixture of institutional medicine throughout Taiwan by the mid-twentieth century. In contrast, with the exception of a few prestigious hospitals in Taipei such as the National Taiwan University Hospital, most medical institutions and clinicians were not equipped to use isotopes. The availability of I131 was also limited, as the nuclear reactor did not become active until the 1960s. The preference for surgery thus points to the significance of material and social conditions of medical practice in Taiwan, amid the backdrop of the haunting images of the atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. on nearby Japan which the Atoms for Peace Project had aimed to overcome.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/mdh.2026.10070","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T10:39:29Z","timestamp":1783593569000},"page":"1-20","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Competing with the colonial scalpel: \u2018Peaceful atoms\u2019 in Cold War Taiwan"],"prefix":"10.1017","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1917-007X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hsiu-Yun","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01b8kcc49","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/mdh.2020.50"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref19","first-page":"1","article-title":"Peaceful Atoms in Japan: Radioisotopes as Shared Technical and Socio-political Resources for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and the Japanese Scientific Community in the 1950s","volume":"80","author":"Iida","year":"2020","journal-title":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref40","first-page":"141","article-title":"Robert K.S. Lim (1897-1969): Academician of Academia Sinica and Chancellor of National Defence Medical Centre in Silent Shadow","volume":"19","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Taiwan Historical Research"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref26","first-page":"1086","article-title":"Nihon no K\u014dj\u014dsen-shu [Goitre in Japan],","volume":"13","author":"Takenaka","year":"1914","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref52","first-page":"25","article-title":"The Use of Radioisotopes in Developing Countries","volume":"5","author":"Cameron","year":"1963","journal-title":"International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref44","first-page":"55","article-title":"Clinical Use of Radio-isotopes in Surgery","volume":"57","author":"Kao","journal-title":"JFMA"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref4","first-page":"6","article-title":"Tain-Chen Wu, and Taiwan Endocrine Surgeons Study Group, \u2018Characteristics of Thyroidectomy in Taiwan\u2019","volume":"104","author":"Huang","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Formosa Med. Assoc."},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref25","first-page":"42","article-title":"Jukirin no k\u014dj\u014dsen kanja [Goitre patients in Shujilin]","volume":"3","author":"Matsuyama","year":"1904","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref61","first-page":"1","article-title":"History of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiology in Mainland China and Taiwan","volume":"2","author":"Chen","year":"1995","journal-title":"Therapeut. Radiol. Oncol."},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref64","first-page":"873","article-title":"Yong fangshexing dian zhiliao jiazhuangxian jineng kangjin [using radioactive iodine to treat hyperthyroidism]","volume":"30","author":"Chang","year":"2003","journal-title":"Dangdai Yixue"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref22","first-page":"111","article-title":"Taiwan ni o ke ru chihousei kojo senshu [Endemic Goiter in Taiwan]","volume":"39","year":"1940","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref49","first-page":"46","article-title":"Gezhong linchuang jianyan dui jiazhuangxian jibing zhenduan zhi jiazhi [The value of various clinical tests for the diagnosis of thyroid diseases]","volume":"55","author":"Kuo","year":"1956","journal-title":"JFMA"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref2","first-page":"9","article-title":"The Present Status of Nuclear Medicine in Korea","volume":"2","author":"Lee","year":"1962","journal-title":"The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4000\/monderusse.11249"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref31","first-page":"111","article-title":"Taiwan ni o ke ru chihousei kojo senshu [Endemic Goiter in Taiwan]","volume":"39","author":"Kawaishi","year":"1940","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref51","volume-title":"Prescribing Colonization: The Role of Medical Practices and Policies in Japan-Ruled Taiwan, 1895-1945","author":"Liu","year":"2009"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781503614017"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref47","first-page":"2","article-title":"\u2018Fangshexing tongweisu zi zhenliao yongtu [the use of radioactive isotopes in diagnosis and treatment]\u2019, Dianzi kexue yu jishu faming zhanlan zhuanhao [Special issue for exhibition on the innovations in electronic science and technology]","volume":"174","author":"Kao","year":"1958","journal-title":"Jiaoyu yu wenhua"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/12541.001.0001"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0001-2998(78)80010-5"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226017945.001.0001"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref34","first-page":"54","article-title":"huigu liushi nian qian zai baerdimode shinian [Remembering my ten years in Baltimore 60 Years ago]","volume":"46","author":"Ye","year":"2013","journal-title":"Yuanyuan Jikan"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781503614017"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1479-666X(09)80007-3"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref15","first-page":"77","article-title":"Navigating Geomedical Borders NAMRU-2\u2019s Tropical Operation in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, 1955-1979,","volume":"131","author":"Hsieh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref59","volume-title":"Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance","author":"Adas","year":"1990"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref21","first-page":"89","article-title":"Imperial Politics and Medicine: The Medical Faculty in Taihoku Imperial University under Japan\u2019s Wartime Total Mobilization","volume":"1","author":"Fan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bulletin of Taiwan Historical Research, NTNU"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/hsns.2008.38.1.5"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00000658-194104000-00001"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref20","first-page":"156","volume-title":"Memorial Committee for Kunio Kawaishi","author":"Hashimoto","year":"1975"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref17","first-page":"42","article-title":"Honjima no chih\u014dby\u014d ni kan suru ni san no umfurage teishutsu oyobi setsumei [Endemic Diseases of this Island\u2014Presenting and Explaining]","volume":"1","author":"Horiuchi","year":"1902","journal-title":"Journal of the Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref46","first-page":"4","article-title":"Aizheng huanzhe de xingjiu xing [Cancer Patients\u2019 new savior]","volume":"416","author":"Kao","year":"1958","journal-title":"Zhongguo Yizhou"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref16","first-page":"383","article-title":"Physician Manpower Policy in Taiwan, 1945-1995","volume":"14","author":"Chiang","year":"1995","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Public Health"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref41","first-page":"77","article-title":"Navigating Geomedical Borders NAMRU-2\u2019s Tropical Operation in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, 1955-1979","volume":"131","author":"Hsieh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref48","first-page":"17","article-title":"Hyperthyroidism: Using Anti-thyroid Medication as a Treatment in Internal Medicine","volume":"55","author":"Xue-Fang","year":"1956","journal-title":"Journal of Formosa Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3803\/EnM.2013.28.4.275"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref29","first-page":"177","volume-title":"Endemic Goitre","year":"1960"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMct1007101"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref23","first-page":"18","article-title":"K\u014dj\u014dsen shu no chih\u014dby\u014dgakuteki oyobi jikken-teki jik\u014d [Endemic and Experimental Aspects of Goitre]","volume":"13","author":"Fujibayashi","year":"1914","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref55","first-page":"79","article-title":"Shangdao fangshexian yixuejia Wu Jing boshi [Remembering Medical Radiologist Dr. Jing Wu]","volume":"59","author":"Zhao","year":"1991","journal-title":"Zhuanji Wenxue"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref37","first-page":"358","volume-title":"The Essence of Chinese Culture","author":"Chang","year":"1957"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref60","volume-title":"Devices and Desires: Gender, Technology, and American Nursing","author":"Sandelowski","year":"2000"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref18","first-page":"106","article-title":"The Preliminary Report on the Prophylaxis against Endemic Goiter: On the Iodine Prevention of School Children in Taiwan, Japan","volume":"41","author":"Hashimoto","journal-title":"JFMA"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref58","first-page":"157","article-title":"Development of Radiation Therapy at National Taiwan University Hospital","volume":"2","author":"Lui","year":"1995","journal-title":"Therapeut. Radiol. Oncol."},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref32","first-page":"51","article-title":"Retrospective and Prospective of Endemic Goitre in Taiwan","volume":"11","author":"Chang","year":"2000","journal-title":"Journal of Internal Medicine of Taiwan"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref62","volume-title":"Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change","author":"Bijker","year":"1997"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref57","first-page":"237","article-title":"Nuclear Medicine\u2014Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow","volume":"4","author":"Tzen","year":"1979","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Radiology"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref33","first-page":"23","article-title":"Treatment of Thyroid Crisis","volume":"55","author":"Kuo","year":"1956","journal-title":"JFMA"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400834952.151"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref54","first-page":"7","article-title":"Nuclear Medicine\u2014A New Discipline","volume":"8","author":"Vetter","year":"1966","journal-title":"IAEA Bulletin"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1507\/endocrine1927.11.9_971"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref53","first-page":"37","article-title":"Radioimmunoassay Studies for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) in Rat Serum","volume":"21","author":"Mu","year":"1971","journal-title":"The Chinese Journal of Physiology"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref50","first-page":"142","article-title":"An Evaluation of I-131 Treatment of Hyperthyroidism: Analysis of 114 Cases","volume":"59","author":"Yang","journal-title":"JFMA"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/507140"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref56","first-page":"13","article-title":"Hezi yixue xiankuang yu zhanwang [Nuclear medicine: Current status and its future]","volume":"2","author":"Ye","year":"1975","journal-title":"Dangdai Yixue"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref24","first-page":"26","article-title":"Hualien Poto no K\u014dj\u014dsen-shu Haifu j\u014dky\u014d [The Distribution of Goitre in Hualien Port Area,","volume":"12","author":"Fujibayashi","year":"1913","journal-title":"Journal of Formosan Medical Association"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref36","first-page":"53","volume-title":"Choulou de Yisheng","author":"Zhao","year":"1978"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref42","article-title":"Dr. Jing Wu\u2014A Pioneer in Atomic Medicine in Free China","volume":"349","author":"Kao","year":"1956","journal-title":"Zhongguo Yizhou"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref45","first-page":"7","article-title":"Wu Jin boshi: ziyou zhongguo yuanzi yixue de tuohuangzhe [Dr. Jin Wu: The pioneer in atomic medicine in Free China]","volume":"349","author":"Kao","year":"1956","journal-title":"Zhongguo Yizhou"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref9","first-page":"345","volume-title":"How Knowledge Moves: Writing the Transnational History of Science and Technology","author":"Mateos","year":"2019"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/18752160-3678460"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref30","first-page":"1","article-title":"Bodies in the Service of the Japanese Empire: Colonial Medicine in Manchuria","volume":"19","author":"Suenaga","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Asia-Pacific Journal"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1016\/0020-708X(60)90118-6","article-title":"Iodine-131 Thyroid Uptake Study of Endemic Goiter Patients in Taiwan","volume":"7","author":"Kao","year":"1960","journal-title":"International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes"},{"key":"S0025727326100702_ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/10546.001.0001"}],"container-title":["Medical History"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0025727326100702","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T10:39:36Z","timestamp":1783593576000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0025727326100702\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]]},"references-count":64,"alternative-id":["S0025727326100702"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/mdh.2026.10070","relation":{},"ISSN":["0025-7273","2048-8343"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0025-7273","type":"print"},{"value":"2048-8343","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]]},"assertion":[{"value":"\u00a9 The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}]}}