
Radioactivity: Introduction and History
Introduction and History, From the Quantum to Quarks
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Radioactivity: Introduction and History provides an introduction to radioactivity from natural and artificial sources on earth and radiation of cosmic origins. This book answers many questions for the student, teacher, and practitioner as to the origins, properties, detection and measurement, and applications of radioactivity. Written at a level that most students and teachers can appreciate, it includes many calculations that students and teachers may use in class work. Radioactivity: Introduction and History also serves as a refresher for experienced practitioners who use radioactive sources in his or her field of work. Also included are historical accounts of the lives and major achievements of many famous pioneers and Nobel Laureates who have contributed to our knowledge of the science of radioactivity.
Key Features
* Provides entry-level overview of every form of radioactivity including natural and artificial sources, and radiation of cosmic origin.
* Includes many solved problems to practical questions concerning nuclear radiation and its interaction with matter
* Historical accounts of the major achievements of pioneers and Nobel Laureates, who have contributed to our current knowledge of radioactivity
* Includes many solved problems to practical questions concerning nuclear radiation and its interaction with matter
* Historical accounts of the major achievements of pioneers and Nobel Laureates, who have contributed to our current knowledge of radioactivity
Readership
Undergraduate/graduate students, teachers and practitioners interested in the basics of radioactivity and nuclear radiation
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Prof. Dr. W. Burkart,
Deputy Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna
Preface
Introduction: Radioactivity and our Well Being
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part I
Democritus (c.460-c.370 B.C.), W.C. Rontgen (1845-1923), H. Becquerel (1852-1908), Pierre (1859-1906) and Marie Curie (1867-1934), P. Villard (1860-1934), E. Rutherford (1871-1937), H.A. Lorentz (1853-1928), P. Zeeman (1865-1943), J.J. Thomson (1856-1940), P. Lenard (1862-1947)
Chapter 1. Alpha Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Decay Energies
III. Alpha Particle Interactions with Matter
IV. Alpha Particle Ranges
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part II
F. Soddy (1877-1956), C.T.R. Wilson (1869-1959), F. Joliet (1900-1958) and I. Joliet-Curie (1897-1956), E. Fermi (1901-1954), W. Pauli (1900-1958), F. Reines (1918-1998) and C. Cowan, Jr. (1919-1974)
Chapter 2. Beta Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Negatrons
III. Positrons
IV. Beta-particle Absorption and Transmission
V. Stopping Power and Linear Energy Transfer
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part III
M. Planck (1858-1947), L. de Broglie (1892-1987), A. Einstein (1879-1955), A.H. Compton (1892-1962), M. von Laue (1879-1960), Sir W.H. Bragg (1862-1942) and Sir W.L. Bragg (1890-1971), H.G.J. Moseley (1887-1915), C.G. Barkla (1877-1944), M. Siegbahn (1886-1978), R.A. Millikan (1868-1953)
Chapter 3. Gamma- and X-Radiation – Photons
I. Introduction
II. Dual Nature: Wave and Particle
III. Gamma Radiation
IV. Annihilation Radiation
V. Cherenkov Radiation
VI. X-Radiation
VII. Bremsstrahlung
VIII. Interactions of Electromagnetic Radiation with Matter
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part IV
J. Chadwick (1891-1974), L. Meitner (1878-1968 and O. Hahn (1879-1968), L. Szilard (1898-1964)
Chapter 4. Neutron Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Neutron Classification
III. Sources of Neutrons
IV. Interactions of Neutrons with Matter
V. Neutron Attenuation and Cross Sections
VI. Neutron Decay
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part V
N. Bohr (1885-1962), G. Hertz (1887-1975) and J. Frank (1882-1964), W. Heisenberg (1901-1976), E. Schrodinger (1887-1961), M. Born (1882-1970) and P.A.H. Dirac (1902-1984), C. Davisson (1881-1958) and G.P. Thomson (1892-1975)
Chapter 5. Atomic Electron Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Internal Conversion Electrons
III. Auger Electrons
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part VI
V.F. Hess (1883-1964), C.D. Anderson (1905-1991), P.M.S. Blackett (1897-1974), Hideki Yukawa (1907-1981), C.F. Powell (1903-1969), D.A. Glaser (1926-), Pierre Victor Auger (1899-1993)
Chapter 6. Cosmic Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Classification and Properties
III. Showers of the Cosmic Radiation
IV. Cosmic Rays Underground
V. Origins of Cosmic Radiation
VI. Cosmic Background Radiation
VII. Dose from Cosmic Radiation and other Sources
Radioactivity Hall of Fame – Part VII
S. Ivanovich Vavilov (1891-1951), P. Alekseyevich Cherenkov (1904-1990), I. Mikhailovich Frank (1908-1990) and I. Yevgenyevich Tamm (1895-1971)
Chapter 7. Cherenkov Radiation
I. Introduction
II. Theory and Properties
III. Cherenkov Photons from Gamma-ray Interactions
IV. Particle Identification
V. Applications in Radionuclide Analysis
Radioactivity Hall of Fame - Part VIII
E.O. Lawrence (1901-1958, J.D. Cockroft (1897-1967) and E.T.S. Walton (1903-1995), H.A. Bethe (1906-2005), W.F. Libby (1908-1980)
Chapter 8. Radioisotope Decay, Radioactivity Units and Radionuclide Mass
I. Introduction
II. Half-life
III. General Decay Equations
IV. Secular Equilibrium
V. Transient Equilibrium
VI. No Equilibrium
VII. More Complex Decay Schemes
VIII. Radioactivity Units and Radionuclide Mass
Appendix A - Particle Range-Energy Correlations
Appendix B - Periodic Table of the Elements
Product details
- No. of pages: 632
- Language: English
- Copyright: © Elsevier Science 2007
- Published: July 18, 2007
- Imprint: Elsevier Science
- eBook ISBN: 9780080548883
About the Authors
Michael L'Annunziata

Michael F. L'Annunziata earned his PhD degree in 1970 at the University of Arizona. His thesis research in the 1960s under contract with the then-US Atomic Energy Commission dealt with the analysis of radionuclides and chemical remediation of the environment in the event of fission product fallout from nuclear war. L'Annunziata was formerly Head of Fellowships and Training at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria; and he has served as a representative and lecturer for the IAEA on peaceful applications of nuclear energy for development in over 40 countries of the world from 1976-2007 and currently a private consultant in radioactivity analysis.
Affiliations and Expertise
Former Head, IAEA Fellowships and Training, Vienna, Austria; Current office: Oceanside, CA, USA
Michael L'Annunziata

Michael F. L'Annunziata earned his PhD degree in 1970 at the University of Arizona. His thesis research in the 1960s under contract with the then-US Atomic Energy Commission dealt with the analysis of radionuclides and chemical remediation of the environment in the event of fission product fallout from nuclear war. L'Annunziata was formerly Head of Fellowships and Training at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria; and he has served as a representative and lecturer for the IAEA on peaceful applications of nuclear energy for development in over 40 countries of the world from 1976-2007 and currently a private consultant in radioactivity analysis.
Affiliations and Expertise
Former Head, IAEA Fellowships and Training, Vienna, Austria; Current office: Oceanside, CA, USA
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