Isotopes: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Isotopes are used in many areas of science and technology, including medicine, archaeology, and nuclear physics. They are central to our understanding of the Earth's past and current processes. Here, Rob Ellam explains the importance and applications of stable and radioactive isotopes.

Rob Ellam is Professor of Geochemistry at the University of Glasgow and Director of the interdisciplinary Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was Distinguished Lecturer for the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 2012-13. He has worked on isotopes across a range of fields, publishing papers on earth science, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, and archaeology.