January 2024 MBR The Science Shelf

The Science Shelf

Radiography in the Digital Age: Physics - Exposure - Radiation Biology, 4th Edition
Quinn B. Carroll, M.Ed., R.T.
Charles C. Thomas, Publisher
https://www.ccthomas.com
9780398094089, $120.95, HC, 833pp

https://www.amazon.com/Radiography-Digital-Age-Exposure-Radiation/dp/039809408X

Synopsis: Now in a fully updated and significantly expanded fourth edition, "Radiography in the Digital Age: Physics - Exposure - Radiation Biology" by radiography expert Dr. Quinn B. Carroll provides just the right focus and scope for the practice of radiography in this digital age, covering four entire courses in a typical radiography program.

The entire emphasis of foundational physics has been adjusted in order to properly support the specific information on digital imaging that will follow. The paradigm shift in imaging terminology is reflected by the careful phrasing of concepts, accurate descriptions and clear illustrations throughout this comprehensive edition.

There are over 700 illustrations, including meticulous color line drawings, numerous photographs and stark radiographs. The two chapters on digital image processing alone include 60 beautifully executed illustrations. Foundational chapters on math and basic physics maintain a focus on energy physics. Concepts supporting digital imaging (such as the interpretation of graphs supporting the understanding of histograms) are more thoroughly discussed.

All discussion of electricity is limited to only those concepts which bear directly upon the production of x-rays in the x-ray tube. Following is a full discussion of the x-ray beam and its interactions within the patient, the production and characteristics of subject contrast, and an emphasis on the practical application of radiographic technique. This is conventional information, but the terminology and descriptions used have been adapted with great care to the digital environment.

Eight chapters are devoted directly to digital imaging, providing extensive coverage of the physics of digital image capture, digital processing techniques, and the practical applications of both CR and DR. Image display systems are brought up to date with the physics of LCD screens and electronic images. PACS and medical imaging informatics are also covered.

Chapters on Radiation Biology and Protection include an unflinching look at current issues and radiation protection in practice. The radiation biology is clearly presented with numerous lucid illustrations, and a balanced perspective on radiation and its medical use is developed. To reinforce mathematical concepts for the student, dozens of practice exercises are strategically dispersed throughout the chapters, with answer keys provided in the appendix. Extensive review questions at the end of each chapter give a thorough, comprehensive review of the material learned.

The Instructor Resources for Radiography in the Digital Age, available on disc, includes the answer key for all chapter review questions and a bank of over 1500 multiple-choice questions for instructors' use. It also includes 35 laboratory exercises, including 15 that demonstrate the applications of CR equipment. Supported by prominent medical physicists and documents from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), this textbook provides the most accurate information available to radiography educators in all the aspects of digital radiography.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, this newly updated and comprehensive fourth edition of "Radiography in the Digital Age: Physics - Exposure - Radiation Biology" is of particular relevance to readers with an interest in radiology and nuclear medicine. This is an ideal textbook and unreservedly recommended for professional and college/university library Radiography collections and curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: There is an extensive online listing of books by Queinn B. Carroll at https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/473241.Quinn_B_Carroll

The Universal Timekeepers
David J. Helfand
Columbia University Press
https://cup.columbia.edu
9780231210980, $24.95, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Timekeepers-Reconstructing-History-Atom/dp/0231210981

Synopsis: Atoms are unfathomably tiny. It takes fifteen million trillion of them to make up a single poppy seed -- give or take a few billion. And there's hardly anything to them: atoms are more than 99.9999999999 percent empty space. Yet scientists have learned to count these slivers of near nothingness with precision and to peer into their internal states. In looking so closely, we have learned that atoms, because of their inimitable signatures and imperturbable internal clocks, are little archives holding the secrets of the past.

With the publication of "The Universal Timekeepers: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom", astronomer and academician David J. Helfand reconstructs the history of the universe back to its first microsecond 13.8 billion years ago with the help of atoms.

Professor Helfand shows how, by using detectors and reactors, microscopes and telescopes, we can decode the tales these infinitesimal particles tell, answering questions such as: Is a medieval illustrated prayer book real or forged? How did maize cultivation spread from the highlands of central Mexico to New England? What was Earth's climate like before humans emerged? Where can we find clues to identify the culprit in the demise of the dinosaurs? When did our planet and solar system form? Can we trace the births of atoms in the cores of massive stars or even glimpse the origins of the universe itself?

A lively and inviting introduction to the building blocks of everything we know, "The Universal Timekeepers" demonstrates the power of science to unveil the mysteries of unreachably remote times and places.

Critique: A work of outstanding and meticulous scholarship, and especially well written for the edification and benefit of students, academicians, and non-specialist general readers alike, "The Universal Timekeepers: Reconstructing History Atom by Atom" is an extraordinarily informative and thoroughly 'reader friendly' study that will prove of immense value to readers with an interest in such diver subjects as climatology, environmental science, astrophysics. and the use of the scientific method to unravel the history of all creation. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Science collections, it should be noted for students, academia, and non-professional general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Universal Timekeepers" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: David J. Helfand (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Helfand) is the chair of the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University where he has served on the faculty for four decades. He has also been a visiting scientist at the Danish Space Research Institute, the Sackler Distinguished Visiting Astronomer at Cambridge University, and president of the American Astronomical Society. He was a founding tutor and served as president and vice chancellor at Quest University Canada. He has published commentary in Nature, Physics Today, the Globe and Mail, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, among other publications.

Roadside Geology of Kansas
James S. Aber, et al.
Mountain Press Publishing Company
www.mountain-press.com
9780878427154, $26.00, PB, 318pp

https://www.amazon.com/Roadside-Geology-Kansas-James-Aber/dp/0878427155

Synopsis: Fossils, badlands, and caprocks are scattered through the prairie -- all there to be found with the help of the "Roadside Geology of Kansas" as your guide.

Featured is a billion years of geologic history that left zinc and lead deposits, salt beds, and oil buried beneath layers of limestone and shale, deposited in the many seas that inundated the continent.

Finally, glaciers reconfigured stream drainages, left enormous boulders scattered about, and provided the windblown silt for excellent cropland.

Nineteenth-century paleontologists flocked to the chalk outcrops of western Kansas to collect fossils of dinosaurs, mosasaurs, giant turtles, and more. Settlers used the rock they found at the surface to build houses, bridges, water towers, and churches, as well as stone fence posts that wouldn't burn during prairie wildfires.

"Roadside Geology for Kansas features sixteen roads (including all the state's scenic, historic, and national byways) that point out prominent landmarks such as Mushroom Rock, Pawnee Rock, Coronado Heights, and Mount Mitchell, along with more hidden geologic delights, such as kimberlite pipes, Rock City, and the source for Kansas amber.

Critique: Of immenst value for professional and non-professional readers with an interest in Midwestern geology in general, and the state of Kansas in particular, "Roadside Geology of Kansas" by co-authors James S. Aber, Susan E. W. Aber, and Michael J. Everhart, (and profusely illustrated throughout with full color photos), is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Geology Science collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: James S. Aber was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and Susan E. W. Aber is a native of Halstead, Kansas. Since meeting as students at the University of Kansas, they have resided most of their adult years in Emporia. Jim received a PhD in geology from the University of Kansas and is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Emporia State University. His specialties include glaciation, wetlands, tectonics, and remote sensing.

Editorial Note #2: Susan E. W. Aber received her undergraduate degree in geology from the University of Kansas and a PhD in Library and Information Management from Emporia State University. She taught formerly at San Jose State University, North Carolina Central University, and Emporia State University. She has expertise in mineralogy, gemstones, maps, and GIS for librarians. Jim and Susie have wide-ranging international research experiences in North and South America, Europe, and southeastern Asia.

Editorial Note #3: Michael Everhart is an Adjunct Curator of Paleontology at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas. He specializes in the study of marine reptiles and other fossils from the Late Cretaceous in western Kansas and has written two books, Oceans of Kansas (Indiana University Press) and Sea Monsters (National Geographic). He is the author and coauthor of many scientific papers on Kansas fossils, including the naming of six new species.

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