University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--History History 2020 THE COULTER PRINCIPLE: FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND Marshall Graham University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.495 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Graham, Marshall, "THE COULTER PRINCIPLE: FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--History. 62. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/62 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--History by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. 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REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Marshall Graham, Student Dr. Scott K. Taylor, Major Professor Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, Director of Graduate Studies THE COULTER PRINCIPLE: FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND ________________________________________ THESIS ________________________________________ A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Marshall D. Graham Nicholasville, Kentucky Director: Dr. Scott K. Taylor, Professor of History Lexington, Kentucky 2020 Copyright © Marshall D. Graham 2020 ABSTRACT OF THESIS THE COULTER PRINCIPLE: FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 made Wallace H. Coulter abruptly comprehend the critical need for rapid and accurate blood-cell counts in providing care for victims of radiation exposure. This thesis documents the unwritten story of his journey from that comprehension through his invention and implementation of the Coulter Principle, its commercialization in the first widely available automated blood- cell counter, and elaboration of that ground-breaking counter into increasingly sophisticated instrumentation for analysis not only of blood cells, but of particles involved in many other scientific disciplines. International cold-war politics and the burgeoning of increasingly powerful nuclear weapons were important motivations for him throughout the period here considered; these are summarized as context for his developmental activities. The Coulter Principle states that if a suspension of blood cells is passed through a small restriction simultaneously with an electric current, the cells will modulate the current, so enabling them to be counted and sized. Today, hematology analyzers based on the Coulter Principle daily process blood samples from many more patients than the number of casualties from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. In closing, significant recognitions of Coulter’s contributions are summarized. KEYWORDS: Wallace Coulter, Coulter Principle, Coulter Counter, blood-cell counting, hematology analyzers Multimedia Elements Used: JPEG (.jpg) Marshall D. Graham November 18, 2020 Date THE COULTER PRINCIPLE: FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANKIND By Marshall D. Graham Scott K. Taylor Director of Thesis Amy Murrell Taylor Director of Graduate Studies November 18, 2020 Date DEDICATION Wallace Henry Coulter February 17, 1913 - August 7, 1998 “People who don’t try, don’t make mistakes.” Joseph Richard Coulter, Jr. August 18, 1924 - November 27, 1995 “Some things are more important than money.” ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis originated in the University of Kentucky’s recruitment day, May 7, 1959, which I attended as a graduating high-school senior. There I saw a Coulter Counter® Model A exhibited by the Biology Department and was allowed to operate it. Its sensing aperture puzzled me, and I began searching library stacks for explanations. My findings led to purchase of a Coulter Counter® Model ZB during my Ph.D. research at Duke University, which prompted a call from Wallace H. Coulter wanting to know why I required its circuit diagrams. That discussion led him to have me recruited into the Coulter organization in 1976, where in June 1978 I became his technical advisor, a position I held until Coulter Corporation was sold to Beckman Instruments in late 1997. My work required detailed knowledge of sensing apertures, which furthered my continuing interest. To the many people who lent a hand during my 60-year journey, I can only say, “Thank you.” I thank Ms. Doris Zagon, Wallace Coulter’s only administrative aide, who checked my transcriptions of his handwritten materials; Ms. Laura Coulter Jones, who provided scans and copies of material in her grandfather’s files; and Dr. Garry Wheeler Stone, whose review of my text improved its lucidity. Special thanks are due to my graduate committee for their willingness to serve and helpful comments. Dr. Scott K. Taylor, who took time to understand my interest in how historians think, and Dr. Amy Murrell Taylor, who encouraged me to undertake this thesis topic, have earned my sincere appreciation. The staff of the University’s Interlibrary Loan program has obtained many helpful articles I had failed to locate in years of searching. And I deeply appreciate being able to pursue a study of history as a Donovan Scholar. Without understanding from my wife Moon, I would not have gotten to this stage, and our daughter Dawn spent four of her early summers helping me archive old articles. Finally, my brother William Gerry Graham has enabled many improvements in the Coulter sensing apertures used in current implementations of the Coulter Principle. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………….….………… iii LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………….………….…… v LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………………….……. vi CHAPTER 1. INSPIRATION ……………………………………………………………….…. 1 CHAPTER 2. PREPARATION ………………………………………………...……………… 9 CHAPTER 3. INVENTION ………………………………………..……….…..…………..… 21 CHAPTER 4. IMPLEMENTATION ……………………………...………...…………….….. 34 CHAPTER 5. PROMOTION …………………………………………………...……….…… 61 CHAPTER 6. COMMERCIALIZATION ……………………………………………….……. 77 CHAPTER 7. TRANSITION …………………………………………....…..……...……...... 95 CHAPTER 8. ELABORATION …………………………………..…………...…….……… 108 CHAPTER 9. CONTEMPLATION ……………………………………………….....…...… 133 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………….…. 138 APPENDIX 1. Background …………………………………….………..….…………… 138 APPENDIX 2. Photo-electric Method of Counting Small Particles ………………….. 140 APPENDIX 3. Conductivity Measurement “Cell” ………………………………..….… 141 APPENDIX 4. Method of Counting Small Particles (July 26, 1948) ………………… 143 APPENDIX 5. Method of Counting Small Particles (August 1948) ………………….. 145 APPENDIX 6. Particle Counter ……………………………………………...…….….… 148 APPENDIX 7. Description of Experiment (October 1948) ……………… …...…...… 149 APPENDIX 8. For Speed Count in a Volume …………….……………………….…… 151 APPENDIX 9. Proposal to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) ..…………………... 153 APPENDIX 10. Proposal to Office of Naval Research (ONR) …………………..….. 158 APPENDIX 11. Apparatus from ONR Contract NONR-1054 (00) ………………...… 164 APPENDIX 12. Characteristics of Coulter Sensing Apertures ……....…………..…... 167 APPENDIX 13. Letter to Dr. Carl Mattern, February 22, 1955 …........................….. 172 APPENDIX 14. Robert H. Berg’s “authorized reprint,” 1958 ………………….…...… 174 APPENDIX 15. The Long Pendency of DuPage County Case 1-61-141 ……..…… 181 REFERENCES ...………………………………………………………………….....……… 186 Primary Sources ……………………………………………………………...........…….. 186 Secondary Sources ……………………………………………….………………...……. 202 VITA …………………………………………………………………………….....………….. 221 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1. Constituents of normal human blood …………………………………….….…. 50 Table 6.1. Cumulative placements of the Model A counter ……………………………… 79 Table 6.2. Berg’s ASTM presentation, June 1958 …………………………………..……. 82 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. An American view of the Hiroshima bombing, August 6, 1945 ...…….….….. 2 Figure 1.2. A Japanese view of the Nagasaki bombing, August 9, 1945 ...……………… 3 Figure 2.1. 3023 West Fulton Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois ………..……………..…...…. 17 Figure 3.1. Wallace Coulter’s reprint of a crucial