Re: calculation of dose to biota

["H.Wade Patterson" <hwade@talltown.com>]

Radsafers:
Others have pointed out that rems and Sieverts are not measureable; they
are quantities whose values are arrived at by a committee decision. They
don't exist in the physical world.
I want to add that neither the rad nor the Gy can be measured without
foreknowledge of the radiation field. Such foreknowledge requires
measuring the flux (fluence) and energy spectrum of the radiation field.
Knowing the flux and spectrum tells one what the detector must be made
of and how thick the walls must be.
Finally, it's absurd to define both the Gy and the Sv as equal
to 1 j/kg. In the physical world this is impossible.
What it all boils down to is that dosimetry for humans, for "biota", or
for anything else requires that the flux and spectrum be known or
closely estimated.
Wade Patterson