Radiation and Modern Life; Fulfilling Marie Curie's Dream
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 336 pages. Appendices. Glossary. Notes. Index. Inscription by the author on the fep. Inscription reads 8/7/06 To Dr. Vic Reis, I am humbled to be asked to place this book into your capable hands. You area a true nuclear visionary. As said, I'm sure you will be able to weave aspects of this book into your clever & innovative methods of presenting our marvelous technology. Go GNEP! Alan Waltar. Introduction by Dr. Helene Langevin-Joliot (Granddaughter of Marie Curie) entitled Marie Curie and the World of Radiation. Major Chapter headings are: Our Common Quest for Life; Thriving in Radiation; Harnessing Radiation; Agriculture; Medicine; Electricity; Modern Industry; Transportation; Space Exploration; Terrorism, Crime, and Public Safety; Arts and Sciences; Environmental Protection; Modern Economy; A Day with the Atom; and A Glimpse into the Future. Dr. Alan Waltar was the 40th president of the American Nuclear Society. He joined the ANS in 1967. He has chaired numerous committees at the Society, as well as several ANS Topical Meetings. In 1984, he was elected an ANS Fellow, the highest grade of membership offered by the Society. He retired as Senior Advisor and Director of Nuclear Energy for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His earlier career included numerous managerial assignments with Westinghouse Hanford Company. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering science from the University of California, Berkeley. He has consulted for numerous IAEA functions, the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Council, the Department of Energy, and several private nuclear firms. With an introduction by Marie Curie's granddaughter, nuclear physicist Dr. Hélène Langevin-Joliot, who reveals a host of interesting and hitherto unknown stories about her famous family (winners of five Nobel Prizes), this unique science book dispels many unfounded fears and provides a wealth of valuable information. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie's first Nobel Prize, awarded to her and her husband, Pierre, for their monumental discovery of radioactivity, it is an ideal time to reflect on the countless ways that their astounding work has so marvelously enriched our daily lives. Despite public fears of the potentially harmful effects of radiation from nuclear waste, we in fact rely on its many beneficial uses everyday for fresh food preservation, fighting terrorism, stopping crime, cancer detection and treatment, spacecraft power, and numerous other life-enhancing applications. In this lucid overview of radiation's many great benefits and ongoing potential, Dr. Alan E. Waltar, past president of the American Nuclear Society, explains how this important energy source has been harnessed to serve a plethora of humanitarian tasks. Through artful use of vivid anecdotes that give vibrancy to technical explanations, Waltar provides numerous examples of radiation's many uses in agriculture, medicine, electricity generation, modern industry, transportation, public safety, environmental protection, space exploration, and even archeology and the arts. Estimating the total financial contribution of all these varied uses, Waltar comes to the startling revelation that radiation technology now contributes more than $420 billion to the U.S. economy and over 4.4 million jobs. In only one century, Marie Curie's discoveries have provided an infrastructure larger than the entire U.S. airline industry. In the future Dr. Waltar foresees continuous improvement in many areas of science, industry, and medicine through tapping the incredible potential of Marie Curie's initial insights. At a time when our dependency on foreign oil makes us vulnerable and when we know that our fossil fuel resources will soon be used up, we need to understand radiation more than ever. This superb book will provide that necessary insight. Victor Herbert Reis (born 11 February 1935) is a technologist and former U.S. government official, best known as the architect and original sponsor of the U.S. nuclear Stockpile Stewardship Program and its associated Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI), which resulted in the creation of several new generations of government-sponsored supercomputers. Reis was Assistant Director for National Security and Space in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, 1981–1983. He returned to government as, first, Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 1989–1990; then that agency's Director, 1990–1991; and subsequently Director of Defense Research and Engineering at the U.S. Department of Defense. Reis served as Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs in the U.S. Department of Energy from 1993 to 1999, where he led the development of the DOE's Stockpile Stewardship Program. After the U.S. moratorium on nuclear testing in 1992, Reis was among the first to recognize the need for a new, formal program in maintaining the U.S. nuclear stockpile, replacing data formerly obtained by testing with data from supercomputer simulation and small-scale non-nuclear experiments. Condition: Very good / Good [Some DJ wear and tear noted.].
Keywords: Radioactivity, Radiation, Food Irradiation, Spacecraft, Power Sources, Nuclear Medicine, Electricity Generation, Fission, Gamma Ray, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Reactor, Plutonium, Radioisotopes, Uranium, Vic Reis
ISBN: 1591022509
[Book #84015]
Price: $175.00