The astonishing biography of a mineral that can sustain our world- or destroy it Uranium occurs naturally in the earth's crust-yet holds the power to end all life on the planet. This is its fundamental paradox, and its story is a fascinating window into the valor, greed, genius, and folly of humanity. A problem for miners in the Middle Ages, an inspiration to novelists and a boon to medicine, a devastat­ing weapon at the end of World War II, and eventually a polluter, killer, excuse for war with Iraq, potential deliverer of Armageddon and a possible last defense against global warming-Uranium is the riveting story of the most powerful element on earth, and one which will shape our future, for better or worse.

When a titanic explosion ripped through the Number Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in 1986, spewing flames and chunks of burning, radioactive material into the atmosphere, one of our worst nightmares came true. As the news gradually seeped out of the USSR and the extent of the disaster was realized, it became clear how horribly wrong things had gone. Dozens died - two from the explosion and many more from radiation illness during the following months - while scores of additional victims came down with acute radiation sickness. Hundreds of thousands were evacuated from the most contaminated areas. The prognosis for Chernobyl and its environs - succinctly dubbed the Zone of Alienation - was grim. Today, 20 years after the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, intrepid journalist Mary Mycio dons dosimeter and camouflage protective gear to explore the world's most infamous radioactive wilderness. As she tours the Zone to report on the disaster's long-term effects on its human, faunal, and floral inhabitants, she meets pockets of defiant local residents who have remained behind to survive and make a life in the Zone. And she is shocked to discover that the area surrounding Chernobyl has become Europe's largest wildlife sanctuary, a flourishing - at times unearthly - wilderness teeming with large animals and a variety of birds, many of them members of rare and endangered species. Like the forests, fields, and swamps of their unexpectedly inviting habitat, both the people and the animals are all radioactive. Cesium-137 is packed in their muscles and strontium-90 in their bones. But quite astonishingly, they are also thriving. If fears of the Apocalypse and a lifeless, barren radioactive future have been constant companions of the nuclear age, Chernobyl now shows us a different view of the future. A vivid blend of reportage, popular science, and illuminating encounters that explode the myths of Chernobyl with facts that are at once beautiful and horrible, "Wormwood Forest" brings a remarkable land - and its people and animals - to life to tell a unique story of science, surprise and suspense.

When plutonium was first manufactured at Berkeley in the spring of 1941, there was so little of it that it was not visible to the naked eye. It took a year to accumulate enough so that one could actually see it. Now there is so much that we don't know what to do to get rid of it. We have created a monster. The history of plutonium is as strange as the element itself. When scientists began looking for it, they did so simply in the spirit of inquiry, not certain whether there were still spots to fill on the periodic table. But the discovery of fission made it clear that this still-hypothetical element would be more than just a scientific curiosity - it could be a powerful nuclear weapon. As it turned out, it is good for almost nothing else. Plutonium's nuclear potential put it at the heart of the World War II arms race - the Russians found out about it through espionage, the Germans through independent research, and everybody wanted some. Now, nearly everyone has some - the United States alone has about 47 metric tons - but it has almost no uses besides warmongering. How did the product of scientific curiosity become such a dangerous burden? In his new history of this complex and dangerous element, noted physicist Jeremy Bernstein describes the steps that were taken to transform plutonium from a laboratory novelty into the nuclear weapon that destroyed Nagasaki. This is the first book to weave together the many strands of plutonium's story, explaining not only the science but the people involved.

The seventh edition of this classic text illustrates the fundamentals of the electrical properties of materials in the context of contemporary engineering applications. Written in an informal, accessible style, it emphasizes the core ideas relevant to understanding the subject and deliberately keeps the mathematical treatment simple. The book presents the simplest model that can display the essential properties of a phenomenon and examines it, showing the difference between ideal and actual behavior. Topics are selected so that the operation of devices having applications (or possible future applications) in engineering can be explained. Problems and worked examples are included throughout. Features of the Seventh Edition ·Presents a comprehensive treatment of light emitting diodes, which are rapidly replacing classical lighting sources ·Covers new topics such as organic material (including various polymers) and artificial materials (including photonic gap materials and metamaterials) ·Provides insight into cutting-edge fields such as amorphous semiconductors and nanotechnology ·Discusses new devices including nanotube transistors, single electron transistors, magnetic tunnel junctions, quantum cascade lasers, and ferroelectric and superconducting memories ·A solutions manual and illustrations from the text are available for download at: http://www.oup.com/uk/booksites/content/0199267936/

In this fascinating biography, Patricia Rife interprets both the life and times of Lise Meitner (1878–1968), providing a rich background of the scientific discoveries and social milieu that affected the research, events, personalities, and politics of 20th century quantum physics. Rife asks the central question of why, given the priority evidence of Meitner's role in the interpretation of nuclear fission, was she too not awarded the Nobel Prize?

The only combined organic photochemistry and photobiology handbook As spectroscopic, synthetic and biological tools become more and more sophisticated, photochemistry and photobiology are merging—making interdisciplinary research essential. Following in the footsteps of its bestselling predecessors, the CRC Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Photobiology, Third Edition has evolved into a state-of-the-art collection on modern aspects of photochemistry and photobiology. A compilation 67 of topical reviews by leading experts, this compilation provides cutting-edge information on the applications of photochemical and photobiological principles, techniques, and methodologies. New and updated topics in this edition include Industrial photochemistry Photocatalyic water splitting Photocatalysis Photostability of drugs Photochemistry in microreactors Photochemical key-steps in organic synthesis Photochirogenesis Photolabile protecting groups Solar photochemistry Computational photochemistry and photobiology Spin-center shift reactions Sustainable photochemistry Artificial photosynthetic systems Biology of UV-A radiation UV radiation and vitamin D Photodynamic drug delivery Photoimmunology Photodermatology Endogenous antioxidant photoprotection and its enhancement in human skin Phototoxicity of drugs Photodynamic approaches to water disinfection　 This high-quality and concise collection bridges traditional topics, current trends, and future directions to provide you with the most authoritative and complete resource available on the subject. The IUPAC glossary of photochemistry is included as a CD-ROM.

In the last decade there has been a huge increase in research into colour related phenomena, matched by a large number of new technological applications of commercial value requiring a fully revised and updated edition of the first book. The second edition covers the areas where chemicals or materials interact with light to produce colour, a colour change, or luminescence and where "coloured" compounds are used to transfer energy or manipulate light in some way. Whilst maintaining the same format as the first edition, the topics covered and content have been considerably expanded to take account of the enormous amount of novel research being carried out in the field of chromic phenomena. Emphasis is given to the applications of such chromic phenomena in newer developments in cutting edge technologies and on the future technological applications of these and other colour related phenomena. The classic chromisms have been joined by sections on excitonic coupling in aggregates and plasmonic coupling in metallic nanoparticles. The heartland of industrial color chemistry, dyes and pigments, are covered together with developments in nanopigments and digital printing. Luminescent phenomena are at the centre of many of the newer products, such as fluorescent and electrochemiluminescent probes and sensors and the burgeoning field of quantum dots is described. Inorganic and organic LEDs are covered with their applications in lighting and displays highlighted. Photosensitisers absorbing in the IR and visible region and their application in optical data storage, photomedicine, solar energy and artificial photosynthesis are reviewed. Finally, the manipulation of light by liquid crystals and other photonic materials is described, alongside an account of their use in flat panel displays, holography and 3D data storage media, special effect pigments, lasers, and non-linear optical applications. The book is of interest to industrial chemists, professionals, postgraduates and recommended reading for colour technology courses at academic institutions.

The study of the structure and function of tetrapyrrolic compounds has excited the interests of organic chemists, biochemists, botanists and biologists for more than a hundred years. Scientific analysis began with the first descriptions of naturally occurring porphyrins, and progress was made towards understanding the structure of chlorophyll. This was followed by the use of newly available isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to investigate the formation of porphyrins in biological systems. Further discoveries led to the elucidation of the atoms in protoporphyrin IX, made possible by the application of physical methods, such as NMR spectroscopy and recombinant DNA technology. The present volume discusses many more exciting and unexpected developments which have been made in the field over the last ten to fifteen years. While not all questions have yet been answered, the forum is set for a great scope of further research in the study of tetrapyrroles. # Of interest to biochemists, organic chemists and plant scientists # The book focusses on the exciting and unexpected developments in the field of tetrapyrolles over the last ten years # It paves the way for future research in this area

Nobel laureate's classic exposition of the theory of radiant heat in terms of the principle of quantum action. Topics include Kirchoff's law, black radiation, Maxwell's radiation pressure, entropy, and much more. Few modern introductions to the theory of heat radiation can match this book for precision, care, and attention to details of proof. 1914 edition. Bibliography.

- Up-to-date account of the principles and practice of inelastic and spectroscopic methods available at neutron and synchrotron sources - Multi-technique approach set around a central theme, rather than a monograph on one technique - Emphasis on the complementarity of neutron spectroscopy and X-ray spectroscopy which are usually treated in separate books