Re[2]: Help for middle school student. -Reply

[Ruth Weiner <rfweine@sandia.gov>]

I have to agree totally with Charlie about "Closing the Circle..."  The book is 
good for pictures and not much else.  My long teaching experience taught ME that
students think the published word is sort of sacrosanct, so that the sort of 
misinformation Charlie cites becomes part of the public lexicon about ionizing 
radiation, fission, actinides, etc.

By the way, what happened to students' learning how to use a library??

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth Weiner
rfweine@sandia.gov

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Help for middle school student. -Reply
Author:  CAW@nrc.gov at hubsmtp
Date:    10/1/98 6:37 AM


Kim,
     
Our reactions to "Closing the Circle on the Splitting of the Atom" are decidedly
different.  One rotten line may not spoil a book, but it certainly made me pay 
attention when I read that: "In general, the risks of adverse health effects are
higher when exposure is spread over a long period than when the same dose is 
received at one time."   I have no way of knowing whether this absurd statement 
is
simply a gaff or is a measure of the writer's knowledge or intent.  However, it 
must
be by choice that the book addresses contamination at great length but offers 
nothing to provide perspective about the associated risks.  Certainly the reader
is
told nothing of the epidemiological studies which indicate that workers in 
AEC/DOE facilities, who were much more highly exposed that were members of 
the public, show no ill effects of radiation.
     
The book does have its virtues.  It is slick, well illustrated, and 
expensive-looking.
It provides a broad, but cursory, overview of DOE operations with a wealth of 
good
pictures.  The glossary provides a few chuckles by saying that "any plutonium 
can
be used" for weapons production; calling U-235 "... the only fissile element;" 
and
defining radioactivity as "... of, caused by, or exhibiting radioactivity."
     
Some health physicists may find this book useful or amusing, but I would not 
recommend it for the general public, and certainly not for a middle school 
student.
     
Charlie Willis
caw@nrc.gov
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