On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, it is appropriate to look at the history of the field of medical physics. This is not to imply that the history of the AAPM and the history of the field of medical physics are synonymous, but the latter does help us understand the former: By examining the history of physicists' scientific contributions to medicine, we will see how it was natural for the growing numbers of physicists involved to form a suitably oriented physical society.

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