"Radiation and Reason" The book and lectures in 2010
In 2010 many visitors to the Radiation and Reason websitedownloaded sample chapters of the book from there or bought a copy direct from the distributors. It has also been available worldwide from Australia via eBay. Bookshops can get it if they make the effort and it is available from Amazon. During the year I gave about 25 lectures, radio interviews and published articles - including 8 in Australia. The lectures, both public and academic, were well attended and the audiences were eager to ask questions. The truth is that most people know little about radiation and nuclear, and they are genuinely interested to hear for themselves about the benefits that these can bring to health and the environment. Further lectures have been arranged for 2011. Invitations to lecture (general interest, academic or schools) in the UK or abroad are always welcome - just email wade.allison@physics.ox.ac.uk and I will get back to you. An early review of the book by Simon Jenkins called it "sensational". A less positive one came a day or two later from Alok Jha who admitted to me in a prior interview that he had not read the book! He was concerned to be balanced in his reporting, and therefore asked the opinion of several other people (who had not read the book either). So much for journalist's "balance". But since then many have read it and published positive reviews, including Amazon customers (to date, 100% at 5-star - on the .uk site, the .fr site or the .com site). A hostile review in Physics World (October 2010) showed that a few professional toes have been trodden on -- that review relied on fabricated quotes, subsequently withdrawn by the editors (December 2010), and was the subject of some sharp correspondence from others in the letter column. The effect of radiation on life is not that hard to understand and it is far too important to be left exclusively in the hands of professionals. It is not surprising that a few of these should feel threatened by a move toward some genuine understanding among the wider population -- and that's what the book is keen to promote.
If you interested to an honest debate you can also report ALL the review of your book as the one of Mike Thorne published on
ReplyDeleteJ. Radiol. Prot. 30 (2010) 379
Mike Thorne after more than 2 pages reviewing your book concludes:
> In summary, this is a deeply flawed book...
and try to reply to him with some more technical and scientific arguments: Otherwise the suspicion that you work for gain is legitimate.
The nuclear arguments are too serious to let them on at level of a popular book:
Mr Wade,
ReplyDeleteGiven the outcomes at Fukushima, unfortunately I would have to agree that your arguments are impossibly flawed. If you really do believe your theses that radiation and nuclear power is essentially benign, then it could be expected of you that you'd place your health where your mouth is and high-tail it to Fukushima to help the struggling Japanese dig out the atomically critical and sub-critical cores of their melting down reactors. Nuclear Radiation is a reasonable risk you say?
Yeah, Right!
Pull the other leg too!!
Please email me with the details of your exploits if you are brave enough to kill yourself or compromise your physical health advancing into the front line radiation doses to be incurred whilst endeavoring to save Fukushima's reactors!!!
Dr Jim Duncan.