Review by Choice Review
Strange Glow is a fantastic, well-written book about the benefits and risks of radiation. Jorgensen (radiation medicine, Georgetown Univ.) uses common prose so that a wide range of readers can follow the discussions. We live in a sea of radiation of all kinds, from radio waves and microwaves to light, X-rays, gamma rays, and other products of nuclear decay. The book presents the amazing history of radiation discoveries in the past 150 years, and helps readers learn to fairly assess how these different kinds of radiation can help or harm our personal health. The average background radiation level worldwide for most individuals is about five millisieverts per year, so a dental X-ray exposure of 0.01 millisieverts and an airport X-ray scan of 0.006 millisieverts are expected to contribute very little toward any health problems. The book includes extensive, useful, and lucid discussions on medical x-rays and radon gas. Readers also learn the facts regarding the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns and the problems they cause. This well-researched book is supported by 42 pages of notes and citations, a 12-page bibliography, and a very extensive index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All undergraduate students and general readers. --Franklin Potter, University of California, Irvine
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Jorgensen, a radiation biologist at Georgetown University, walks readers through the history of humanity's interaction with radiation in order to help them understand and evaluate current risks. As he mixes science, history, and biography, Jorgensen runs through a roster of early radiation-related deaths, including those of Marie Curie, the "radium girls," and Manhattan Project scientists. He also covers more recent incidents, such as the Fukushima meltdown and other nuclear-related accidents. Jorgensen's emphasis on health leads him to shine some positive light on human uses of various forms of radiation, including cancer treatments, and the role that radioactivity plays in understanding DNA. He introduces a few basic mathematical formulae, but ably explains concepts and allows lay readers to easily follow along. In the third part of his book, Jorgensen examines some specific threats-radon in homes, cell phones, and nuclear power plants, for example-and assesses their risks. Threats from cell phone usage and tuna irradiated after Fukushima, it turns out, are basically nonexistent, but he is not so sanguine about nuclear power plants or weapon security. This is a solid, accessible work, but perhaps its most beneficial aspect is that Jorgensen equips readers with enough knowledge to make their own risk assessments, whether it is of a potential medical diagnostic test or a particular consumer decision. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
All popular science titles strive to be both absorbing and enlightening, and this offering from Jorgensen (radiation medicine, Georgetown Univ.) is no exception. However, while aiming for narrative, the author often misses the mark and provides too much background. That, combined with his attempts not to overburden readers, leaves one wondering why some facts, such as William Lawrence Bragg (winner of the 1915 Nobel Prize for Physics) having a cuttlefish named after him, are featured, while others, including crediting Rosalind -Franklin with the discovery of DNA (rather than James D. Watson and Francis Crick), were not. Compelling extraneous details add to the story, but since this work has the stated purpose of discussing the health risks associated with radiation, the prose could certainly have been shorter. Indeed, the section on current dangers doesn't begin until halfway through the book. It seems that the author expects many readers to skip ahead to this section as several anecdotes from the preceding chapters are repeated. VERDICT Jorgensen's easy-to-follow and enthusiastic style will appeal to readers who are interested in the study of radiation yet have plenty of time on their hands to get to the information they seek.-Cate Hirschbiel, -Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An examination of the nature of radiation and the history of our understanding of the process. In this spirited, thorough investigation into radiation, molecular radiation biologist Jorgensen (Molecular Oncology/Georgetown Univ.), chair of Georgetown's radiation safety committee, delivers narrative science at its best, providing a propulsive story, each piece building on the next in a series of progressive revelations. Though the author is happy to steer readers away from nonessential dark matter"the physics of wave polarization is quite complex and we don't need to know anything more about it here"he brings them deep enough into the science to ensure a comfortable grip on what radiation is and how it both helps and harms our health. "This book seeks to both convince people that they can be masters of their own radiation fate," writes the author, "and empower them to make their own well-informed decisions about their personal radiation exposures." Jorgensen accomplishes his goal by running through the human experience with radiation. This tale includes the scientists, of course, some of whom gave their lives to the study, as well as a plenitude of human-interest storiese.g., the watch-factory workers in the 1920s whose job was "to paint the numbers on watch dials with a fluorescent paint that contained radium," a task that often required them to sharpen the brush points in their mouths, resulting in the ingestion of radium. Throughout the book, Jorgensen keeps the science brisk"radiation is energy on the move, be it through solid matter or free space"and to the point: "it is the breaking of biological molecules that results in radiation's adverse biological effects." With a deft touch, the author delves into risks, statistics, and cohort studies ("the gold standard" of scientific studies, as opposed to the less reliable "small case-control studies"), and he displays a soft sense of humor while covering a serious topic. A seismic piece of scientific inquiry, top shelf in narrative style and illumination. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
