5
1
Hardcover(New Edition)
$46.99
-
PICK UP IN STORECheck Availability at Nearby Stores
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
46.99
In Stock
Overview
This is the story of a new science. Beginning with an obscure discovery in 1896, radioactivity led researchers on a quest for understanding that ultimately confronted the intersection of knowledge and mystery.
Mysterious from the start, radioactivity attracted researchers who struggled to understand it. What caused certain atoms to give off invisible, penetrating rays? Where did the energy come from? These questions became increasingly pressing when researchers realized the process seemed to continue indefinitely, producing huge quantities of energy. Investigators found cases where radioactivity did change, forcing them to the startling conclusion that radioactive bodies were transmuting into other substances. Chemical elements were not immutable after all. Radioactivity produced traces of matter so minuscule and evanescent that researchers had to devise new techniques and instruments to investigate them.
Scientists in many countries, but especially in laboratories in Paris, Manchester, and Vienna unraveled the details of radioactive transformations. They created a new science with specialized techniques, instruments, journals, and international conferences. Women entered the field in unprecedented numbers. Experiments led to revolutionary ideas about the atom and speculations about atomic energy. The excitement spilled over to the public, who expected marvels and miracles from radium, a scarce element discovered solely by its radioactivity. The new phenomenon enkindled the imagination and awakened ancient themes of literature and myth.
Entrepreneurs created new industries, and physicians devised novel treatments for cancer. Radioactivity gave archaeologists methods for dating artifacts and meteorologists a new explanation for the air's conductivity. Their explorations revealed a mysterious radiation from space. Radioactivity profoundly changed science, politics, and culture. The field produced numerous Nobel Prize winners, yet radioactivity's talented researchers could not solve the mysteries underlying the new phenomenon. That was left to a new generation and a new way of thinking about reality.
Radioactivity presents this fascinating history in a way that is both accessible and appealing to the general reader. Not merely a historical account, the book examines philosophical issues connected with radioactivity, and relates its topics to broader issues regarding the nature of science.
Mysterious from the start, radioactivity attracted researchers who struggled to understand it. What caused certain atoms to give off invisible, penetrating rays? Where did the energy come from? These questions became increasingly pressing when researchers realized the process seemed to continue indefinitely, producing huge quantities of energy. Investigators found cases where radioactivity did change, forcing them to the startling conclusion that radioactive bodies were transmuting into other substances. Chemical elements were not immutable after all. Radioactivity produced traces of matter so minuscule and evanescent that researchers had to devise new techniques and instruments to investigate them.
Scientists in many countries, but especially in laboratories in Paris, Manchester, and Vienna unraveled the details of radioactive transformations. They created a new science with specialized techniques, instruments, journals, and international conferences. Women entered the field in unprecedented numbers. Experiments led to revolutionary ideas about the atom and speculations about atomic energy. The excitement spilled over to the public, who expected marvels and miracles from radium, a scarce element discovered solely by its radioactivity. The new phenomenon enkindled the imagination and awakened ancient themes of literature and myth.
Entrepreneurs created new industries, and physicians devised novel treatments for cancer. Radioactivity gave archaeologists methods for dating artifacts and meteorologists a new explanation for the air's conductivity. Their explorations revealed a mysterious radiation from space. Radioactivity profoundly changed science, politics, and culture. The field produced numerous Nobel Prize winners, yet radioactivity's talented researchers could not solve the mysteries underlying the new phenomenon. That was left to a new generation and a new way of thinking about reality.
Radioactivity presents this fascinating history in a way that is both accessible and appealing to the general reader. Not merely a historical account, the book examines philosophical issues connected with radioactivity, and relates its topics to broader issues regarding the nature of science.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780199766413 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Publication date: | 08/25/2011 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 280 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Marjorie C. Malley was involved with science and mathematics education for many years, including teaching, curriculum development, and consulting. Her publications include articles on radioactivity, luminescence, the nature and history of science, and biographical subjects. Dr. Malley was a member of the review panel for the National History Standards and is a past chair of the Education Committee of the History of Science Society.
Table of Contents
PrefaceList of Illustrations
Introduction
I. A NEW SCIENCE
Chapter 1. The Beginnings
The Setting
Rays and Radiation
Becquerel's Discovery
Chapter 2. The Curies
Maria Sk_odowska
A Consequential Meeting
New Elements!
Chapter 3. Rutherford, Soddy, Particles, and Alchemy?
Rutherford and the Rays
Where did the Energy come from?
Material Rays? Discovery of the Beta Particle
Thorium's Rays
Vanishing Radioactivity
Transmutation!
A Missed Discovery
Reactions
Atomic Energy?
Tragedy
More Rays
The Alpha Particle
Chapter 4. The Radioactive Earth
The Prospectors
How Old is the Earth?
A New Property of Matter?
Chapter 5. Speculations
Early Theories
Radioactivity and Probability
Kinetic Models of the Atom
Chapter 6. Radioactivity and Chemistry
The Rise of Radiochemistry
Radioactive Genealogy
Chemistry of the Imponderable
Inseparable Radioelements
Isotopes
Displacement Laws
The End of the Lines
More Isotopes
Chapter 7. Inside the Atom
Building Blocks
Bombarding Atoms
The Nucleus and the Periodic Table
The Gamma Rays
Theories of the Nucleus
Chapter 8. Sequel
War!
Radioactivity during World War I
From Radioactivity to Nuclear and Particle Physics
II. MEASURING AND USING RADIOACTIVITY
Chapter 9. Methods and Instruments
Crucial Choices
Standardizing the Measures
Innovations
Size, Money, and Machines
Chapter 10. Radioactivity, Medicine, and Life
Unpleasant Surprises
From Burns to Therapy
Rays and other Organisms
Miracle Cure?
Radioactive Spas
Dangers in the Laboratory
Chapter 11. New Industries
Early Industry
Soňaring Demand and New Institutions
Paint that Glowed in the Dark
A New Poison
Fission, Bombs, and the Uranium Rush
Radioactivity and the Oil Industry
III. BEYOND THE STORY
Chapter 12. Radioactivity's Prime Movers
Technology, Resources, and Professional Changes
Individuals
Research Groups
Scientific Ideals and Culture
Mentors and Models
Age, Attitudes, and Ambition
Nationalism
Chapter 13. Radioactivity and Timeless Questions: the Quest for Understanding
Models and Theories for Radioactivity
Patterns in Radioactivity's Development
Ideas about Change
Ideas about Matter and Energy
Ideas about Continuity and Discontinuity
Eternal Conundrums
Chapter 14. The Imaginative Appeal of a Discovery
Mythological and Romantic Dimensions of Radioactivity
An Ongoing Task
Appendices
1. Glossary of Rays and Radiations
2. Family Trees for Radioactive Elements
3. Radioactivity's Elusive Cause
4. Nobel Prize Winners Included in this Book
5. Radioactivity's Web of Influence
6. Timeline
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of