I am indeed happy to take part in these ceremonies honoring Dr. Failla on his attaining the biblical mark of three score years and ten. I have had the good fortune to be associated with him for most of my professional life-and for most of his. We have seen medical radiological physics grow from his one-man start some fortyfive years ago to its present distinguished estate. When Dr. Janeway brought the young engineering student to Memorial Hospital in 1915 to take care of the radon plant and study methods of improving radon applications in cancer treatment, he little knew what he was starting! A beginning was made immediately on developing new applicators and technics, but World War I intervened; the young Italian-born engineer was needed for duty abroad. When he came back after the Armistice, he was ready in earnest to develop a research laboratory. During the preceding decade, both in America and abroad, efforts had been made to develop methods for measuring quantity and quality of x-rays-more often by university physicists than by those actually concerned with medicine. A few really extensive studies on dose distribution had been carried out, notably that by Kroenig and Friedrich, in Germany, with the first water phantom and horn ionization chamber. Regaud, in France, had called attention to the need of differentiating between radiation emitted from a source and that received by cells exposed to this beam, but had done nothing about it. Russ, in England, and Ghilarducci, in Italy, were making sorties into the field that later developed into radiation biophysics, but there was very little work relating directly to medical radiologic problems. In 1919, routine having been restored in the radon division at Memorial Hospital, Mr. Failla was able to obtain a little money and space for a research assistant and laboratory. I was fortunate enough to apply and be accepted for the position, and thus started an association which was terminated only when we both reached retirement age last year. That laboratory would horrify any present-day radiation safety officer. On the ground floor was a large room containing the machine shop and radon preparation bench; adjoining this was a small one containing the radium safe and the largely unshielded radon plant. Above was the laboratory, with both our desks, measuring equipment for the daily radon collection, and an electroscope as the start of our research equipment. Later a high-voltage x-ray machine was installed in a corner of this same room. It was probably fortunate for our work that we had no equipment as radiation-sensitive as the modern Geiger counter! I should mention, however, that one of the first problems was to improve radiation safety, and this was continually a matter for attention. At this time there was not in America another radiation research laboratory in a hospital; it was a truly pioneering effort.