UNDERSTANDING RADIOACTIVITY - Hardcover

Milne

 
9780689313622: UNDERSTANDING RADIOACTIVITY
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0689313624 ISBN 13: 9780689313622
Publisher: Atheneum, 1989

Synopsis

Examines the nature, sources, problems, and uses of radioactivity

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Reviews

Grade 6-9-- When it was first brought to public knowledge 40 years ago, the power of radiation seemed to promise great benefits for humanity. Ten years ago the Three Mile Island accident highlighted its dangers. The Milnes give clear if overly compressed accounts of basic atomic structure, nuclear decay, and background radiation. But at the end of each chapter on human uses of radioactivity, they seem to grasp at straws of continued research to minimize the dangers that they describe. They oversimplify certain problems, such as the conflict over mining on native American lands, by not mentioning the terrible economic pressures applied by the nuclear industry. This simplification would be acceptable in a book for younger readers, but the vocabulary level and density of facts in the text aim it at students who will demand more explanation. Hiscock's illustrations are crude but effective line drawings and diagrams. In comparison, Laurence Pringle's Radiation: Waves and Particles/Benefits and Risks (Enslow, 1983) gives a more detailed picture with fuller explanations and more attractive illustrations, but it is not as up to date. The Milnes' book is recommended as supplementary reading for school and public libraries. --Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Marysville, Wash.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Publisher
Atheneum
Publication date
1989
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0689313624
ISBN 13 
9780689313622
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
70