Radiological physicists

JUAN A. DEL REGATO, Radiologicalphysicists, New York, American Institute ofPhysics for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, 1985, 4to, pp. v, 188, illus., $25.00. Radiology provided perhaps the main route by which physicists entered medicine in the period leading up the Second World War. Among other things, they were needed to develop and service X-ray and radium equipment; to develop means of protecting operators and patients from the deleterious effects of radiation; and to standardize and measure the physical conditions associated with irradiation (intensity, dose, wavelength, and so on). In addition, under the heading of "medical" research, they also carried out work in radiobiology, and undertook fundamental studies into the nature of radiations and of matter. In recognition of this there exist biographies of many of the major physicists associated with radiation studies. Del Regato has brought together summary biographies of ten of the best-known radiation physicists-R6ntgen, Curie, Planck, Rutherford, W.H. Bragg, Duane, Bohr, Joliot, Compton, and Fermi. Each biography was previously published separately in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. In addition, the book also includes some biographical notes on some of their associates and families. There is little in these biographies that will not already be known to historians interested in the area. However, the book itself is well produced, and will probably find an audience among professional physicists with an interest in the history of their field. David Cantor Wellcome Institute