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The essential guide to radiation the good, the bad, and the utterly fascinating, explained with unprecedented clarity. Earth, born in a nuclear explosion, is a radioactive planet without radiation, life would not exist. And while radiation can be dangerous, it is also deeply misunderstood and often mistakenly feared. Now Robert Peter Gale, M.D,the doctor to whom concerned governments turned in the wake of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disastersin collaboration with medical writer Eric Lax draws on an exceptional depth of knowledge to correct myths and establish facts. Exploring what have become trigger words for anxietynuclear energy and nuclear weapons, uranium, plutonium, iodine-131, mammogram, X-ray, CT scan, threats to the food chainthe authors demystify the science and dangers of radiation, and examine its myriad benefits, from safely sterilizing our food to the relatively low-risk fuel alternative of nuclear energy.