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Living with radiation: The risk, the promise
Book reviews
197
these is not provided, but the index may be used instead. The chapter on sampling and analysis test methods stands out with relevant information concerning air, water, and solid waste, and a separate list of standard procedures for the analysis of PCBs (which appears to be author Kokoszka's area of interest). An idea about industrial compliance can be gleaned from a table that gives a description of how waste minimization was achieved, as well as a few cost data. Treatment and disposal techniques presently practiced and under development are also compiled. The handbook, in general, gives the user a summarized update about the state-of-the-art and leads him to sources on topics of direct concern. Future trends are also briefly discussed; one of the trends is the development of in situ methods and movable units that were initiated in response to the NIMBY (or "not in my backyard") syndrome. The handbook should be very useful to environmental consultants and program managers in both private and government sectors. Environmental engineering students may also find this a good reference to consult on present practices and information sources in the U.S. Antonio L. Fernandez Osaka University Osaka, Japan
Quality Assurance for Diagnostic Imaging Equipment. NCRP Report No. 99. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD; 1988. 250 pp., $18.00. This report addresses factors that influence production of an image. It contains the necessary information to enable the imaging physician to report the diagnostic findings to the referring physician. Some of these factors are human, others are inherent to technique and equipment. The subject of the report is quality assurance, i.e., all of the management practices instituted by the imaging physician, to assure highest quality medical care, but an essential element of quality assurance is quality control. The first three sections are concerned with quality assurance in general and the remainder with quality control in specific circumstances. This report provides a systematic approach to procedures which can ensure that the physician and the
imaging facility consistently achieve their optimal performance. This in turn, ensures that there is optimal use of radiation and that radiation exposures to patient and staff are maintained at a level consistent with the principles of optimization of radiation protection espoused by the NCRP.
Living with Radiation: The Risk, the Promise. Henry N. Wagner, Jr. and Linda E. Ketchum. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD; 1989. 193 pp., $17.95 The authors present an illuminating account of the hopes and fears associated with ionizing radiation, extending from nuclear energy and medical radiation to nuclear weapons. They make it clear that a justified fear of nuclear weapons has led to a widespread, unjustified, and unreasoning fear of the beneficial applications of radiation. Although these two aspects of atomic energy are tied together - - they both involve the nucleus of the atom and its radioactive rays - - a deep misunderstanding of this relationship by the general public has evolved since the time of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors' aim is to place the beneficial applications of nuclear radiation in perspective. Early in the book the groundwork is laid in understandable language of the scientific principles involved, including the basic discoveries of radioactivity and nuclear science. This aids the reader in understanding the discussion of nuclear radiation, whose role is so pervasive but at the same time so generally misunderstood and so unreasonably feared. The inability to understand the value of a risk-benefit analysis leads to a failure to take sufficient advantage of the beneficial applications of radioactive tracers and other forms of radiation.
The Facts on File Dictionary of Physics. Revised and expanded edition. Facts On File Publications, New York; 1988. 235 pp., $19.95 hardbound. This book is an important tool for students and those whose daily work involves physics. It includes definitions, 50 line drawings, extensive cross-references and tables listing symbols for physical quantities, conversion factors and other frequently consulted information.
197
these is not provided, but the index may be used instead. The chapter on sampling and analysis test methods stands out with relevant information concerning air, water, and solid waste, and a separate list of standard procedures for the analysis of PCBs (which appears to be author Kokoszka's area of interest). An idea about industrial compliance can be gleaned from a table that gives a description of how waste minimization was achieved, as well as a few cost data. Treatment and disposal techniques presently practiced and under development are also compiled. The handbook, in general, gives the user a summarized update about the state-of-the-art and leads him to sources on topics of direct concern. Future trends are also briefly discussed; one of the trends is the development of in situ methods and movable units that were initiated in response to the NIMBY (or "not in my backyard") syndrome. The handbook should be very useful to environmental consultants and program managers in both private and government sectors. Environmental engineering students may also find this a good reference to consult on present practices and information sources in the U.S. Antonio L. Fernandez Osaka University Osaka, Japan
Quality Assurance for Diagnostic Imaging Equipment. NCRP Report No. 99. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Bethesda, MD; 1988. 250 pp., $18.00. This report addresses factors that influence production of an image. It contains the necessary information to enable the imaging physician to report the diagnostic findings to the referring physician. Some of these factors are human, others are inherent to technique and equipment. The subject of the report is quality assurance, i.e., all of the management practices instituted by the imaging physician, to assure highest quality medical care, but an essential element of quality assurance is quality control. The first three sections are concerned with quality assurance in general and the remainder with quality control in specific circumstances. This report provides a systematic approach to procedures which can ensure that the physician and the
imaging facility consistently achieve their optimal performance. This in turn, ensures that there is optimal use of radiation and that radiation exposures to patient and staff are maintained at a level consistent with the principles of optimization of radiation protection espoused by the NCRP.
Living with Radiation: The Risk, the Promise. Henry N. Wagner, Jr. and Linda E. Ketchum. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD; 1989. 193 pp., $17.95 The authors present an illuminating account of the hopes and fears associated with ionizing radiation, extending from nuclear energy and medical radiation to nuclear weapons. They make it clear that a justified fear of nuclear weapons has led to a widespread, unjustified, and unreasoning fear of the beneficial applications of radiation. Although these two aspects of atomic energy are tied together - - they both involve the nucleus of the atom and its radioactive rays - - a deep misunderstanding of this relationship by the general public has evolved since the time of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The authors' aim is to place the beneficial applications of nuclear radiation in perspective. Early in the book the groundwork is laid in understandable language of the scientific principles involved, including the basic discoveries of radioactivity and nuclear science. This aids the reader in understanding the discussion of nuclear radiation, whose role is so pervasive but at the same time so generally misunderstood and so unreasonably feared. The inability to understand the value of a risk-benefit analysis leads to a failure to take sufficient advantage of the beneficial applications of radioactive tracers and other forms of radiation.
The Facts on File Dictionary of Physics. Revised and expanded edition. Facts On File Publications, New York; 1988. 235 pp., $19.95 hardbound. This book is an important tool for students and those whose daily work involves physics. It includes definitions, 50 line drawings, extensive cross-references and tables listing symbols for physical quantities, conversion factors and other frequently consulted information.