Whole Body Counters

Woodburn, John H., 1914-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 57K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Whole Body Counters by F. W. Lengemann and John H. WoodburnAuthor: Woodburn, John H., 1914-,Language: English, Class: RM: Medicine: Therapeutics, Pharmacology, Release Date: Aug 6, 2015

Editor's review

This book is built around the whole-body counter, a device for measuring nuclear radiation, and is a popular-science work at the intersection of applied nuclear physics and radiation protection, co-authored by Langham and Woodburn. It is brief, focusing on explaining how the whole-body counter works, what it measures, and where it is used, setting out concepts such as the deposition of radionuclides in the human body and direct external measurement in fairly plain terms. It does not aim for rigorous formula derivations but prioritizes readability, helping non-specialist readers build a basic understanding of radiation monitoring. For readers curious about the historical background of nuclear medicine, radiation protection, or environmental monitoring, the book offers a concrete, compact entry point. It is best read as a focused guide: grasp the overall framework first, then look at measurement procedures and protection principles for a quick practical impression.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Popular-science readers interested in nuclear physics and radiation protection
Students in nuclear medicine or environmental monitoring
Practitioners needing to understand the basic principles of radiation measurement
General readers who enjoy short science and technology features

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic derivation of nuclear physics formulas
Readers looking for the latest advances in radiation monitoring technology
Readers with no interest in natural science topics

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the book's scope and core concepts.
Keep pen and paper handy while reading to note measurement procedures and protection points.
When encountering technical terms, understand them from context first rather than looking them up immediately.
After finishing, restate the uses of the whole-body counter in your own words to check your understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background?

Fairly suitable. The book is mainly explanatory, focusing on what a whole-body counter is and how it is used, with a modest technical threshold. Readers with no background can skip detailed terminology at first, grasp the overall framework, then return to the specific measurement steps; the reading burden is not great.

What is the book mainly about?

It centers on the whole-body counter, a radiation measurement device, introducing what it measures, how it works, and where it is used, covering concepts such as the deposition of radionuclides in the human body and direct external measurement. It is a focused work in applied nuclear physics and radiation protection.

What background knowledge is needed?

High-school physics concepts of atomic structure and radioactivity are enough; some familiarity with nuclear medicine or radiation protection makes it smoother. A lack of background does not prevent overall reading—the book prioritizes readability, and readers can fill in necessary concepts as they go.

Comments

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About the author

Woodburn, John H., 1914- Author · American · 1914

John H. Woodburn (born 1914) was an American science educator and popular science writer. Public information about him is limited; what can be confirmed is that his writing was mainly aimed at young readers and sought to explain scientific knowledge in an accessible way. His representative work, Whole Body Counters, deals with the specialized subject of human measurement and radiation detection and is a science book for young readers. Judging from the works available, he was skilled at turning technical topics and scientific principles into narratives that young people could understand, emphasizing readability and educational value—a writing approach consistent with a science educator's concern for both accuracy and popularization. Because biographical and bibliographical information is scarce, the full scope of his work remains to be further verified.