Customer Reviews

Introduction to Health Physics

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I received my copy of the fourth edition of "Introduction to Health Physics" today and took a good look at it. Chapter two and three don't have a lot of substantial changes, but it looks like the rounding errors in the previous editions have been corrected. There are more homework problems in each chapter too.

Chapter four has a new section on accelerators, with a good explanation of each type. Chapter five again appears to have multiple numerical corrections made, and more homework problems. Chapter six (Radiation dosimetry) has more homework problems, and Chapter seven (Biological basis for radiation safety) has some sections on epidemiology now.

Chapter eight (Radiation safety guides) goes through ICRP 66, with an example for particulate and gasses. The examples for ICRP 66 calculations are clear, but it is obvious that calculating a lung dose with this technique will take a lot of paper!

It looks like there are a lot of updates to Chapter nine (Instrumentation), with more examples, but the photo of the neutron detection instrument is terrible. Again, more homework problems were added. (Makes me glad I am not a student anymore!)

I was glad to see that Chapter 10 (External radiation safety) has a section on NCRP 147. There are examples there too, and in my opinion the explanations and examples are better than the NCRP 147 examples.

Chapter 11 (Internal radiation safety) finally has a decent example with radon. The previous editions did not really have any calculations or examples, so it was good to see this addition. Chapter 12 on criticality remains relatively unchanged, but chapter 13 has new examples and more homework.

Chapter 14 has been expanded significantly. There is a section on UV that finally covers the UV equations on the ABHP part two equation sheet, and there is even an example. There are more laser and RF examples too.

Overall, it looks like the minor calculation errors that I have found in the past are corrected, lots of examples added, and as a sad note to students: there are a LOT more homework problems. If you are a practicing HP, or planning to take the CHP exam, you should get this book.

This book will not be on your shelf, you will be using it!

This new edition of the classic text is a disappointment, and it's use as a textbook is not recommended.

For this 3d edition, the list of typographical errors compiled by colleagues and myself stands at four pages and growing. Errors can be found in the text, the chapter problems, and their solutions. Other solutions which are not clearly wrong may inexplicably differ from your own solution at the second significant digit.

Formulae are rarely derived from first principles. One exception is the change in wavelength for a photon undergoing Compton scattering from an electron, but, even here, a crucial equation (the relativistic energy invariant) is conspicuously omitted, without which the final equation cannot be derived. The text does not even mention relativity in discussing Compton scattering. (The index does reference "Relatively effects" (sic) at pp. 4-11.)

Equations and formulae contain, at times, an unnecessary proliferation of multiplication signs and units which obscures the underlying physical principles and the simplicity of the equations themselves. Students are better served by a clear mathematical presentation of the underlying physics, rather than being dropped into the middle of an obscure equation made even more so by the inclusion of several constants whose only purpose is to make the units work out. While any text on this subject must deal with the unavoidability of old and new units, my suggestion is to derive the formulae from first principles and deal with the units issue (which, after all, only amounts to including appropriate conversion factors) separately as examples or chapter problems.

Finally, the multiplication sign, "x", should be reserved for arithmetic and scientific notation, not symbolic mathematical equations. See, e.g., Equations (3.10), (4.31), (10.17), (10.32), etc., as examples where the multiplication sign is unnecessary. The text also uses the multiplication sign even where numerical values are already set off by parentheses. The text's overuse of the multiplication sign gives the text a grade-schoolish flavor.

I studied the 2nd edition of this text as a student and the 3rd edition preparing for both the CHP part I and II. I've recently read through this latest edition and am very encouraged by the updates that have been made. I highly recommend this book for new health physics students, HPs preparing for the CHP exam and anyone with an interest in learning about the field of Health Physics. You won't find another book that covers the full breadth of the field like this one. This 4th edition is a must-have for any serious HP's bookshelf!
-David Bisson, CHP

I purchased this book as a required text when I was still an undergrad, for a class in Radiation Protection. It's peppered with initial equations that are thumb-rules, and I'm not just talking about the well known empirical thumb rules like ZE/800 = (dE/dx) rad/ (dE/dx) col

Here's an example:

If you want to find the specific activity of a nuclide, Cember uses the definition of the Curie to cancel a couple constants (ln(2) and Na) and instead include a second GAW and half-life to look-up or memorize. (GAW of Radium * Half-life of Radium) / (GAW of the nuclide * Half-life of the nuclide) = Activity (in Ci/g)

Other authors of health physics texts, like Schultis & Faw or Martin, define the activity as decay constant * Avagadro's number / gram atomic weight = Activity (in disintegrations per unit time per gram, where the time is in whatever unit you used for the decay constant. Use seconds to get activity in Bq).

Cember's formula is useful for back-of-the-envelope problems as it's easier to do without a calculator (e.g. if you haven't memorized ln(2) to a few sig figs). However, the other formula is the actual definition of specific activity. If you know what specific activity means, you can probably come up with that formula by simply writing out the mathematical equivalent of the definition.

If you're a student, and this is the text book for your class, grab it for sure. Many of the formulae you'll see in lecture (assuming your lectures are derived from this text) won't look the same in an alternate text that starts with proper physical laws. For instance: wavelength'' = 12400/eV in Cember is really wavelength = hc/E, but with the constants substituted in already (and no way from looking at the formula to tell what the units are for Cember's answer -- in this case, it's Angstroms).

If you're the instructor or a board advisee selecting the textbook for your class? I'd recommend considering the alternatives. The only real advantage to Cember's approach is it saves your students from doing unit conversion and some algebra, and in exchange they just have to annotate all the thumb-rules on their equation sheets with the resulting units, since you can't decide the system just by looking at the formula. But honestly, you can save your students the same amount of time by listing some common modern physics constants with the unit conversion in place. For the wavelength example, that'd be that hc = 1240 MeV fm.

(Oh, and ignore the Reference Woman data...Cember claims she is ridiculously short)

The fourth edition of Introduction to Health Physics by Herman Cember and Thomas Johnson is a 21st century update to the classic Health Physics text. The new edition expands on the third edition with a content update, more problems, plus modern tables and graphics for better readability.

Chapter 4 On Radiation Sources has been expanded to include an extensive discussion on Machine Sources of Radiation. This new section covers X-Ray Tubes, Linear Accelerators, and Cyclotrons. Chapter 14 on Nonionizing Radiation Safety has been revamped. The chapter is a great help to health physicists needing to expand their skills in dealing with laser and ultraviolet radiation safety issues.

One of the text's strong points is the extensive problem set at the end of each chapter. Diligently working through all of the problems in this text is a prerequisite to passing both Parts I and II of the Comprehensive Certification in Health Physics Exam. The fourth edition of Introduction to Health Physics is a good addition to the libraries of both practicing Health Physicists and students.

Great condition and got here on time. It was exactly what we needed.
doing research for a new psotion and needed more resources. This fit the bill.