Strange Glow (eBook)

The Story of Radiation

Timothy J. Jorgensen (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2016 | 1. Auflage
512 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4008-8052-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Timothy J. Jorgensen is associate professor of radiation medicine and director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program at Georgetown University. He lives with his family in Rockville, Maryland.

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The fascinating science and history of radiationMore than ever before, radiation is a part of our modern daily lives. We own radiation-emitting phones, regularly get diagnostic x-rays, such as mammograms, and submit to full-body security scans at airports. We worry and debate about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the safety of nuclear power plants. But how much do we really know about radiation? And what are its actual dangers? An accessible blend of narrative history and science, Strange Glow describes mankind's extraordinary, thorny relationship with radiation, including the hard-won lessons of how radiation helps and harms our health. Timothy Jorgensen explores how our knowledge of and experiences with radiation in the last century can lead us to smarter personal decisions about radiation exposures today.Jorgensen introduces key figures in the story of radiation-from Wilhelm Roentgen, the discoverer of x-rays, and pioneering radioactivity researchers Marie and Pierre Curie, to Thomas Edison and the victims of the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Tracing the most important events in the evolution of radiation, Jorgensen explains exactly what radiation is, how it produces certain health consequences, and how we can protect ourselves from harm. He also considers a range of practical scenarios such as the risks of radon in our basements, radiation levels in the fish we eat, questions about cell-phone use, and radiation's link to cancer. Jorgensen empowers us to make informed choices while offering a clearer understanding of broader societal issues.Investigating radiation's benefits and risks, Strange Glow takes a remarkable look at how, for better or worse, radiation has transformed our society.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.2.2016
• Zusatzinfo: 25 b/w illus.
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Genetik / Molekularbiologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Chemie ► Physikalische Chemie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Atom- / Kern- / Molekularphysik
• Schlagworte: Acute Radiation Syndrome • alkaline earth metal • Alpha particle • anemia • Atomic Nucleus • Background radiation • Beta particle • Bomb • brain tumor • Breast Cancer • Burn • Caesium • Calcium • Calculation • Carbon-14 • carcinogen • case-control study • chemical weapon • chemist • Cobalt-60 • Cohort Study • Complication (medicine) • Critical Mass • Crookes tube • Decay chain • Detonation • Disease • DNA damage (naturally occurring) • Effective dose (pharmacology) • Effective dose (radiation) • electric charge • electricity • electrocution • electrode • Electromagnetic radiation • epidemiology • Ernest Rutherford • estimation • Finding • Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster • Gamma ray • Health effect • hydrogen atom • Indication (medicine) • Ionizing Radiation • Irradiation • J. J. Thomson • lethality • leukemia • Louis Slotin • Lung Cancer • Mammography • Mobile Phone • Molecule • Neutron • nitrogen • Nobel Prize in Physics • nuclear fallout • nuclear fission • Nuclear fission product • nuclear fusion • Nuclear power plant • nuclear reaction • nuclear reactor • Nuclear warfare • nuclear weapon • Physician • physicist • Plutonium • Polonium • Potassium • Probability • Prostate Cancer • Publishing • Radiation burn • Radiation damage • Radiation protection • radiation therapy • Radioactive Contamination • Radioactive decay • Radiocarbon Dating • Radiology • Radionuclide • Radio Wave • Radium • Radon • risk assessment • Scientist • Sievert • skin cancer • sodium • Subatomic particle • Symptom • Technology • Thermonuclear weapon • Toxin • Uncertainty • Uranium-235 • World War II • X-Ray
• ISBN-10: 1-4008-8052-1 / 1400880521
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4008-8052-2 / 9781400880522