Introduction to Health Physics

A dynamic, all-inclusive overview of the field of health physics

If it's an important topic in the field of health physics, you'll find it in this trusted text . . . in sections on physical principles, atomic and nuclear structure, radioactivity, biological effects of radiation, and instrumentation. This one-of-a-kind guide spans the entire scope of the field and offers a problem-solving approach that will serve you throughout your career.

Features:

• A thorough overview of need-to-know topics, from a review of physical principles to a useful look at the interaction of radiation with matter
• Chapter-ending practice problems to solidify your grasp of health physics topics and their real-world application
• Essential background material on quantitative risk assessment for health-threatening radiation dangers
• Authoritative radiation safety and environmental health coverage that supports the International Commission on Radiological Protection's standards for specific populations
• High-yield appendices to expand your comprehension of chapter material: Values of Some Useful Constants, Table of the Elements, The Reference Person, Specific Absorbed Fraction of Photon Energy, and Total Mass Attenuation Coefficients
• NEW! Essential coverage of non-ionizing radiation-laser and microwaves, computer use in dose calculation, and dose limit recommendations

For this 3d edition, the list of typographical errors compiled by colleagues and myself stands at four pages and growing. Errors can be found in the text, the chapter problems, and their solutions. Other solutions which are not clearly wrong may inexplicably differ from your own solution at the second significant digit.

Formulae are rarely derived from first principles. One exception is the change in wavelength for a photon undergoing Compton scattering from an electron, but, even here, a crucial equation (the relativistic energy invariant) is conspicuously omitted, without which the final equation cannot be derived. The text does not even mention relativity in discussing Compton scattering. (The index does reference "Relatively effects" (sic) at pp. 4-11.)

Equations and formulae contain, at times, an unnecessary proliferation of multiplication signs and units which obscures the underlying physical principles and the simplicity of the equations themselves. Students are better served by a clear mathematical presentation of the underlying physics, rather than being dropped into the middle of an obscure equation made even more so by the inclusion of several constants whose only purpose is to make the units work out. While any text on this subject must deal with the unavoidability of old and new units, my suggestion is to derive the formulae from first principles and deal with the units issue (which, after all, only amounts to including appropriate conversion factors) separately as examples or chapter problems.

Finally, the multiplication sign, "x", should be reserved for arithmetic and scientific notation, not symbolic mathematical equations. See, e.g., Equations (3.10), (4.31), (10.17), (10.32), etc., as examples where the multiplication sign is unnecessary. The text also uses the multiplication sign even where numerical values are already set off by parentheses. The text's overuse of the multiplication sign gives the text a grade-schoolish flavor.