Optics has been part of scientific enquiry from its beginning and remains a key element of modern science. This book provides a concise treatment of physical optics starting with a brief summary of geometrical optics. Scalar diffraction theory is introduced to describe wave propagation and diffraction effects and provides the basis for Fourier methods for treating more complex diffraction problems. The rest of the book treats the physics underlying some important instruments for spectral analysis and optical metrology, reflection and transmission at dielectric surfaces and the polarization of light. This undergraduate-level text aims to aid understanding of optical applications in physical, engineering and life sciences or more advanced topics in modern optics.

The hands of humans split the atom and reshaped the world. Gradually revealing a sublime nightmare that begins with spontaneous nuclear fission in the protozoic and ends with the omnicide of the human race, The Manhattan Project traces the military, cultural, and scientific history of the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power through searing lyric, procedural, and visual poetry. Ken Hunt's poetry considers contemporary life-life in the nuclear age-broadly and deeply. It dances through the liminal zones between routine and disaster, between life and death, between creation and destruction. From the mundane to the extraordinary, Hunt's poems expose the depth to which the nuclear has impacted every aspect of the everyday, and question humanity's ability to avoid our destruction. Challenging the complicity of the scientists who created devastating weapons, exploring the espionage of the nuclear arms race, and exposing the role of human error in nuclear disaster, The Manhattan Project is a necropastoral exploration of the literal and figurative fallout of the nuclear age. These poems wail like a meltdown siren, condemning anthropocentric thinking for its self-destructive arrogance.

No one has ever seen a quark. Yet physicists seem to know quite a lot about the properties and behavior of these ubiquitous elementary particles. Here a top researcher introduces us to a fascinating but invisible realm that is part of our everyday life. Timothy Smith tells us what we know about quarks--and how we know it.

Though the quarks that make science headlines are typically laboratory creations generated under extreme conditions, most quarks occur naturally. They reside in the protons and neutrons that make up almost all of the universe's known matter, from human DNA to distant nebulae, from books and tables to neutron stars. Smith explains what these quarks are, how they act, and why physicists believe in them sight unseen. How do quarks arrange themselves? What other combinations can nature make? How do quarks hold nuclei together? What else is happening in their hidden worlds? It turns out that these questions can be answered using a few simple principles, such as the old standby: opposites attract. With these few principles, Smith shows how quarks dance around each other and explains what physicists mean when they refer to "up" and "down" quarks and talk about a quark's color, flavor, and spin.

Smith also explains how we know what we know about these oddly aloof particles, which are eternally confined inside larger particles. He explains how quark experiments are mounted and how massive accelerators, targets, and detectors work together to collect the data that scientists use to infer what quarks are up to.

A nonmathematical tour of the quark world, this book is written for students, educators, and all who enjoy scientific exploration--whether they seek a taste of subnuclear physics or just wonder about nature on the smallest of scales.

La Guía para el uso de sedimentos en la reconstrucción histórica de la contaminación en zonas costeras presenta los métodos, procedimientos operacionales y recomendaciones prácticas para el muestreo, la preparación y la fechación de perfiles sedimentarios mediante los radionucleidos 210Pb y 137Cs, con el propósito de evaluar tendencias históricas de la contaminación en zonas costeras. La guía contribuye a la armonización metodológica entre los laboratorios que fechan sedimentos marino-costeros y es complementaria al libro Radiocronología de sedimentos costeros utilizando 210Pb: modelos, validación y aplicaciones, publicado por el OIEA en 2012.

The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is the cornerstone of non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.Yet its negotiation and success were not inevitable. This book aims to address the developments that led to the negotiation of the treaty, examine its implementation, and address challenges that the NPT faces going forward.

The IAEA Regulations for the safe transport of radioactive material specify test requirements for Type C packages, which are used for shipments of radioactive material by air. From 1998 to 2006, the IAEA conducted a coordinated research project (CRP) to assess aircraft accident frequency and severity in the context of Type C package test requirements. This publication presents the outcome of the original research conducted under the CRP. The results are expected to lead to increased knowledge of the post-crash survivability of packages containing high activity radioactive material.

This publication addresses the basics of the application of a graded approach in the regulatory oversight of nuclear installations, describes the approaches currently implemented by several regulatory bodies around the world and, based on these examples, proposes a generic methodology for application of a graded approach to regulation of nuclear installations. The publication provides practical examples and information on developing and implementing strategies and processes for all regulatory functions.