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Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation, by Timothy J. Jorgensen
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More 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.
- Sales Rank: #154921 in eBooks
- Published on: 2016-02-23
- Released on: 2016-02-23
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"Jorgensen proves that there's no excuse for convoluted writing, however difficult the subject. His conversational style makes even the most complex equations attractive, [in this] frightening, fascinating, inspiring story of radiation."--Spectator Magazine (London)
"Jorgensen's book Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation [uses] history to explain how we encounter radiation and how it affects us. ... It provides readers with the basic facts so that they can make decisions about the risks they want to live with."--Angela Creager, Science Magazine (AAAS)
"One real strength of this book is the way it dispels the myth that radiation risks are too complicated for ordinary people to grasp. ... A very useful resource to the general public as well as to radiation experts, thanks to its simplicity, conciseness and lucidity." -- Jun Deng, Physics World
"Timothy Jorgensen takes the reader on a journey from the discovery of radiation through to modern day uses of radioisotopes, via the experiences of many colourful characters who have played a part in our understanding of this intriguing topic. ... This book is informative, fast paced and entertaining. ... I guarantee you will be engaged and surprised."-- Lizzie Blaxland, Chemistry World
"Jorgensen walks readers through the history of humanity's interaction with radiation. . . . [Strange Glow] is a solid, accessible work, but perhaps its most beneficial aspect is that Jorgensen equips readers with enough knowledge to make their own risk assessments, whether it is of a potential medical diagnostic test or a particular consumer decision."--Publishers Weekly
"[U]nbiased, comprehensible information on radiation risk is hard to come by. Timothy J. Jorgensen's book Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation fills this gap, using history to explain how we encounter radiation and how it affects us. . . . Jorgensen is a good storyteller, with an eye for compelling details."--Angela Creager, Science
"In this spirited, thorough investigation into radiation, molecular radiation biologist Jorgensen . . . delivers narrative science at its best, providing a propulsive story, each piece building on the next in a series of progressive revelations. . . . A seismic piece of scientific inquiry, top shelf in narrative style and illumination."--Kirkus, starred review
"We need to talk about radiation, because although we like to think we have shed our primitive fears and superstitions, this is one topic that has so far proved resistant to the march of rationality. . . . The only antidote to irrational fear is knowledge, and Strange Glow imparts this in spades."--Peter Forbes, Independent
"A long overdue and successful attempt to rationalise an emotional subject by telling its story in very human terms."--Dominic Lenton, Engineering & Technology
"Strange Glow . . . integrates detailed science and carefully illuminated medical statistics with the personal lives of scientists. . . . The book's goal--'to present the facts about radiation as objectively and even-handedly as possible, leaving you to decide which aspects to fear'--is achieved with authority and style."--Andrew Robinson, Lancet
"This book can be enjoyed as a sort of scientific QI--a string of interesting facts you can't wait to share with anyone who can be persuaded to listen. . . . Jorgensen proves that there's no excuse for convoluted writing, however difficult the subject. His conversational style makes even the most complex equations seem attractive."--William Cook, The Spectator
"[Strange Glow] is . . . the story of human interaction with radiation--beginning with the one type that we can see (light) and continuing through radio waves, atomic blasts, cellphones, radon, microwave ovens, luggage scanners, the Fukushima accident, and on and on. . . . Jorgensen avoids graphs and numbers, instead relying largely on entertaining--if alarming--anecdotes."--Nancy Szokan, Washington Post
"What I certainly did not expect was to get caught up in the stories of the scientists [in Strange Glow]. . . . Jorgensen has written a compelling book about the history of radiation. . . . [His] gift is that he make us care about the scientists."--Jacqueline Cutler, Newark Star-Ledger
"Strange Glow is a cracking good read, filled with fascinating stories about the people behind the science and covering vastly more of that science than I anticipated, in an accessible style. . . . Jorgensen writes, 'If I have done my job well, readers of this book will learn a tremendous amount about radiation and will find this information useful in many practical ways.' He has, and they will."--John Gribbin, Literary Review
"Timothy Jorgensen is a scientist with a knack for narrative storytelling."--Ryan Stellabotte, Fordham News
"Strange Glow is clear, engaging and refreshingly willing to treat the reader as a thinking adult."--Matt Treyvaud, Japan Times
"Strange Glow is a fantastic, well-written book about the benefits and risks of radiation. Jorgenson uses common prose so that a wide range of readers can follow the discussions. . . .The book includes extensive, useful, and lucid discussions on medical x-rays and radon gas. Readers also learn the facts regarding the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns and the problems they cause. [A] well-researched book."--Choice
"Informative, fast paced and entertaining. . . . This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered: How does radiation work? How much do we know about it? And how can something invisible be so powerful and have so many applications in our day-to-day lives? Or for anyone who thinks they understand the concepts of radiation, I guarantee you will be engaged and surprised."--Lizzie Blaxland, Chemistry World
"Jorgensen's lucid writing and strong story-telling skills are demonstrated thoroughly in this book, making it a pleasure to read. . . . In its simplicity and conciseness, it greatly contributes to removing some of the mystery and misunderstanding that surrounds radiation. . . . I feel it will become a very useful resource to the general public as well as to radiation experts."--Jun Deng, Physics World
From the Author
People like to get their learning in the form of stories. If you tell an engaging and compelling story, people will learn something from it and they will retain that knowledge. So that's what I attempt to do in Strange Glow. The book is the story of man's encounters with radiation, and how mankind has been transformed by the experience. The story is told with an emphasis on the human aspects, and it is told from a health-centric perspective. The goal is to integrate the technological aspects of radiation within the human experience and, thereby, remove some of the mystery and misunderstanding that surrounds radiation. Nevertheless, this is not a book about lessening your fear of radiation. Fear is a very subjective emotion, driven by many factors. The only thing that this book can achieve is to present the facts about radiation as objectively and evenhandedly as possible, leaving its readers to decide for themselves which aspects of radiation they should fear.
Another purpose of this book is to dispel the myth that the subject of radiation risks is so complicated that it is beyond the capability of ordinary people to grasp, leaving as their only recourse reliance on radiation "experts." This is simply not true. Intelligent people, even those lacking any technical background, should be able to understand the fundamental principles that drive radiation risk and make their own decisions about how large a threat radiation poses to them individually and to society at large. This book seeks to convince people that they can be masters of their own radiation fate, and to empower them to make their own well-informed decisions about their personal radiation exposures.
Lastly, this book is an experiment in risk communication. The open question is whether radiation risks can be characterized accurately and effectively without reliance on a lot of mathematics, tables, and graphs. These highly quantitative approaches have proved to be largely ineffective in communicating the essence of risk to the public. This book is devoid of graphs and tables and keeps the mathematics to a minimum. Instead, it tries to instill a sense of the magnitude of the threat through a historical scientific narrative about the people who encountered radiation of various types and dose levels, and the health consequences of those exposures. In this way, we can get an accurate sense of the level of the radiation hazard even without a detailed understanding of the underlying technology.
If I have done my job well, all readers of this book will enjoy interesting stories of scientific discovery while, at the same time, learn a tremendous amount about radiation. They should also find their new understanding of radiation personally useful in many practical ways. I hope you will find it so.
About the Author
Timothy J. Jorgensen is associate professor of Radiation Medicine, and Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program, at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He serves on the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP), he chairs the Georgetown University Radiation Safety Committee, and he is an associate in the Epidemiology Department at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Very informative and a great read. I especially enjoyed the historical perspective
By Amazon Customer
Very informative and a great read.
I especially enjoyed the historical perspective.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Emily Dickenson
This is a wonderful book about electricity and radiation.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
A clear-headed and engaging account of the history, promises and myths of radiation
By Ash Jogalekar
Timothy Jorgensen has written an account of radiation which chronicles the science, personalities and history involved in our understanding of this seemingly mysterious and yet very important and all-pervasive entity. In addition the book does a very good job of dispelling many myths about the correlation between radiation and health issues like cancer. The book excels mainly in three ways.
Firstly Jorgensen provides an exciting and clear account of the scientific history of radiation, ranging from the intriguing observations of radioactivity in natural ores and in radioactive rays at the turn of the twentieth century, all the way to the science of nuclear explosions and nuclear reactors. Along the way there are also revealing insights into topics like radiation units, radioactivity in the environment and the biological effects of radiation, especially on genetic material. Jorgensen is a clear and enthusiastic explainer.
Secondly, the book narrates the stories of the fascinating personalities who were involved in the story of radiation. These involve both brilliant scientists like Rutherford, Mueller, the Curies and the Braggs as well as lesser known scientists and doctors who were instrumental in unearthing the nature and effects of this elemental entity. More importantly though, the book excels in painting sobering portraits of the victims of the misuse of radiation, such as the "radium girls" in Connecticut and New Jersey who got sick from licking the radium-laced tips of brushes used to paint luminous watch dials to the Pacific islanders who were the victims of atomic tests which were conducted as part of the power play of the superpowers. Some of these incidents like the poisoning of the watch dial painters had some positive consequences since they led to more vigilant government oversight over industry; others like the fallout that displaced thousands of Pacific islanders demonstrate the impact of nationalistic hubris which delivers little justice. Parts of the book thus shine well as a human interest story.
Lastly, the book offers a clear-headed guide to dispelling many myths about radiation. There is an excellent treatment on the effects of radiation in potentially causing cancer. Jorgensen examines many of the most well known phenomena and accidents involving radiation - Hiroshima, Chernobyl, radon contamination in homes, x-rays and CT scans, cell phone use and finally Fukushima - and concludes that there is no evidence in any of these cases of an excess of cancers that is significantly more than the 'natural' incidence (about 25%). Getting x-rays and CT scans and living close to a nuclear reactor in particular pose almost negligible risks since the radiation from these sources can be easily exceeded by normal background radiation from the environment. Nor is there any conclusive evidence that radiations risks can be extrapolated all the way down to zero. Risks from radiation should not be dismissed, but as Jorgensen carefully documents, they should always be seen for what they are in context. Sadly our fear of the unknown often tends to exaggerate these risks.
I would recommend this very authoritative book to any science or history minded reader and in fact to any citizens who might be concerned about the nuclear reactor in their city or who might want to know how to realistically gauge the effects of radiation of any kind and how we got to our present understanding of such effects. This kind of information would be handy the next time you hear about any radiation-related event in the paper or on TV. Recommended especially for public and university libraries.
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