C U R R E N T
R E V I E W S
FOR COLLEGE
L I B R A R I E S
A Publication of the Association of
College and Research Libraries
A Division of the
American Library Association
CHOICE
JAN '91
SCIENCE
AND
TECHNO-
LOGY
Health
Sciences
© 1991
American
Library
Association
| 28-2754 | 89-62431 Orig |
This thought-provoking book addresses a topic of great importance. Gofman an established authority on nuclear physics, emphasizes the importance of the follow-up studies of the Japanese victims of the atomic bomb. He is concerned that the methods of analyzing this data have been changed in recent years and will yield the wrong conclusions. The author warns that future evaluation in this field will be imperiled by retroactively altering the database and by accepting unverified data and analyses from sources that frequently distort the truth. Supporting his own method of analysis, Gofman concludes that there is no safe dose or dose rate of ionizing radiation and that even the lowest conceivable doses present cancer risks. This conclusion is contrary to claims of other members of the scientific community. This volume is an important addition to the debate on the health risks of low-dose radiation. Public and academic library collections, community college through graduate.--H. W. Wallace, University of Pennsylvania