Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond

A Story that Covers Almost a Century
Radioactivity and Matter
Ionizing Radiation
Chemical Aspects of Nuclear Processes
Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic Radiation, and the Universe
The Interstellar and Interplanetary Medium
The Early Earth
The Contemporary Earth
Nuclear Energy
Perspectives
Glossary
Index

Biography

Ivan G. Draganic is a senior scientist at the Nuclear Sciences Institute (Vinca, Yugoslavia), where he has worked with ionizing radiation since 1950. Dr. Draganic received a D.Sc. from the Sorbonne, Paris and has been a visiting scientist at the Centre d’Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay (France), the Riso National Laboratory (Denmark), the Brookhaven National Laboratory (U.S.), and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico). He is a member of working groups and field-expert of the International Atomic Energy Agency as well as author and co-author of about 150 technical and scientific articles on the dosimetry of ionizing radiation (nuclear reactors), radiation chemistry (aqueous systems), and evolutionary processes (early Earth, cometary nuclei). In addition, Dr. Draganic is the author, co-author, and editor of more than a dozen books including Introduction to Radiochemistry, Radiochemical Procedures, Radioactive Isotopes and Radiation, and The Radiation Chemistry of Water. In 1973 he shared the National Award for research with his wife, Dr. Zorica D. Draganic. Zorica D. Draganic was a senior scientist at the Nuclear Sciences Institute (Vinca, Yugoslavia), where she had worked with ionizing radiation since 1950. Dr. Draganic received a D.Sc. from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia and has been a visiting scientist at the Centre d’Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay (France), the Brookhaven National Laboratory (U.S.), the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico), and the Riso National Laboratory (Denmark). She was author and co-author of about 90 scientific articles on radiation chemistry (water, aqueous solutions) and radiation chemical aspects of chemical evolution processes (Pre- cambrian Earth, comet nuclei). In addition, Dr. Draganic was coauthor of several books including The Radiation Chemistry of Water She shared with her husband, Dr. I. G. Draganic, the National Award for Research in 1973. Jean-Pierre Adloff is Titular Professor of Nuclear Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry, Nuclear Research Center, Strasbourg. He received a D.Sc. from the University of Strasbourg where he had prepared his doctorate with the late Professor Marguerite Perey, discoverer of the element francium and former assistant of Marie Curie. Dr. Adloff is the author and co-author of about 100 articles on radiochemistry, radioanalytical chemistry, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and hot atom chemistry and is a committee member of the International Symposia on Hot Atom Chemistry and the International Conference in Nuclear and Radiochemistry. He is a participant in French scientific cooperation programs in Brazil, Mexico, and Paraguay and is a UNESCO expert in Brazil and an IAEA expert in Thailand, Ecuador, and Kenya. Professor Adloff is the Co-editor of Radiochimica Acta.

"A masterly attempt at setting radioactivity in context...Anyone interested in radioactivity should read it..."
- New Scientist

Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond is a remarkable compendium of information on how radiation affects the Earth and its inhabitants. The book provides insight into the history of and developments in the fields of radioactivity and nuclear energy. Basic facts on the nature of radioactivity are presented, including the structure of matter from elementary particles to atoms and ionizing radiation and its interactions with matter.

The book is organized so that anyone interested in the effects of radiation will find it easy to read. A page with comments describing the major points to be covered precedes each chapter. At the end of each chapter there is an annotated bibliography that provides details regarding contents, readership, and other features of interest for each book listed. A glossary of scientific and technical terms is included at the end of the book.

The Second Edition of Radiation and Radioactivity on Earth and Beyond features new information regarding the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the production of elementary particles, radiation exposure, the geopolitical effects of the end of the nuclear arms race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, and the future of nuclear power. This book is important reading for anyone concerned with radiation, nuclear energy, and scientific space research.