- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press (Nov 17 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0674002881
- ISBN-13: 978-0674002883
- Product Dimensions: 22.5 x 18.3 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 617 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,688,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Many people think of "cosmic rays" as mysterious extraterrestrial radiation, like what Flash Gordon and other '50s sci-fi heroes shot from their ray guns. Actually, as Friedlander, professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, explains, cosmic radiation comprises a bestiary of rather ordinary subatomic particles. Most of these come from either the sun or from supernova explosions in our galaxy; a small percentage may come from other galaxies, but those rays would have to have extraordinary initial energies to travel so far. Friedlander reviews the many different kinds of radiation in comprehensive detail, interspersing throughout his technical taxonomy fascinating examples of how research into these visitors from distant stars has yielded many useful terrestrial applications. Even though the probability of one of these particles colliding with our bodies is minuscule, he also explains, a small number of cancers may be caused by molecular mutations initiated by the impact of cosmic radiation. Friedlander writes very fluidly for the nonspecialist, but some readers may decide to skim sections in which the author gets into more advanced scientific detail. The book will appeal to science buffs interested in cosmology, particle physics, archeology, even nuclear medicine. It should establish itself as a standard work in the field of cosmic radiation, so it will be a must-buy for libraries with broad science collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Cosmic rays have been an energetic arena for astrophysics research for the past century, which history physicist Friedlander traces. A theme of his story is the technology of detection, for snaring a proton moving nearly at light speed is "no mean trick." Although early devices, such as cloud chambers, have given way to electronic detectors sent into space and giant neutrino detectors installed deep underground, their purpose has all along been to identify the source of cosmic rays. Although a consensus prevails among the experts that they originate somewhere in the Milky Way (along with a small proportion from the Sun), Friedlander underscores that some must be coming from the universe at large. Mysterious as well is what creates them (supernovas are strong candidates), and the drive to find out makes cosmic rays most productive of Ph.D.s and Nobel Prizes. More prosaically, we can thank and blame cosmic rays for two things: they produce the carbon 14 isotope that revolutionized archaeological dating; and they add measurably to each person's radiation dose. A detailed, informative survey of the topic. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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First Sentence
"COMING OUT OF SPACE and incident on the high atmosphere, there is a thin rain of charged particles known as the primary cosmic radiation." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
"COMING OUT OF SPACE and incident on the high atmosphere, there is a thin rain of charged particles known as the primary cosmic radiation." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Introduction to Cosmic Radiation, May 12 2006
By Michael Wischmeyer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Thin Cosmic Rain: Particles from Outer Space (Hardcover)
Michael Friedlander begins by quoting the introductory sentence from Cecil Powell's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1950: "Coming out of space and incident on the high atmosphere, there is a thin rain of charged particles known as primary cosmic radiation."A Thin Cosmic Rain - Particles from Outer Space is a well-written, intriguing introduction to cosmic rays (CR) that will appeal to readers with a moderate technical background. The later chapters were especially fascinating.
Friedlander's text involves relatively little mathematics, but is packed with helpful technical graphs and charts, particle track photos, instrumentation diagrams, and astronomical photographs.
The early chapters provide a historical context that may be largely familiar to many readers: the discovery of cathode rays (electrons), x-rays, and radioactive decay; the high altitude balloon flights by Victor Hess that resulted in the discovery of cosmic rays, "an extra-terrestrial source of penetrating radiation"; the advances in particle tracking technology in the twentieth century; and the impact of satellite borne instrumentation on CR research, including the discovery of the Van Allen belts.
The middle chapters - Particles from the Sun, Cosmic Rays in the Galaxy, The Energy Spectrum, and Ultra-High Energies - are a little more technical and may require some study as they lay the foundation for the final chapters. These chapters immediately engaged my interest and I found myself reading late into the evening. I would finish one chapter and immediately begin another.
The remaining chapters, especially Nuclear Clues, The Origin of Cosmic Rays, Cosmic Electrons and Gamma Rays, and Cosmic Neutrinos, are also quite good. Professor Friedlander addressed such topics as the nucleosynthesis model, the galactic leaky box model, calculations of CR travel paths, the CR budget for our galaxy, the spectral shape of supernova emissions, and synchrotron radiation.
My hardcover copy of A Thin Cosmic Rain was published by Harvard University Press, 2000. An earlier version, Cosmic Rays, was published in 1989.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking and readable, Oct 12 2006
By Yoshiro Aoki - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Thin Cosmic Rain: Particles from Outer Space (Paperback)
This book is (was) a real page turner. After less than a week it took its well deserved place among the really great books that I have read through this year. My physics background is rather meager personally, a single university class back in 2004. But nothing other than an interest in gaining a new insight into the cosmos is required to embark with this excellent read.The insights into and the motivations of the early work in CR research was especially useful, and provided not only a fascinating historical perspective but the footing required to continue the journey through the book's short 225 pages. And all along the way the writing and development of ideas and concepts from the beginning are smooth, logical, and eminently readable. And inspiring! I have ordered more such books concerning physics.
Highest recommendations.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
17 April 2012 centenary of discovery of cosmic ray particles, April 1 2012
By George McNamara - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Thin Cosmic Rain: Particles from Outer Space (Paperback)
17 April 2012 is the centenary of discovery of cosmic ray particles.Michael Friedlander has an excellent Nature article to commemorate this:
Friedlander 2012 A century of cosmic rays. Nature 483: 400-401.
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