Putting the sun in the shade

About a century ago, scientists started meddling with an unfamiliar force of nature and the rest of us were terrified. That force was called electricity and nowadays we’re all fine with it. What Timothy Jorgensen wants to know is: why don’t we feel equally relaxed about radiation? After all, electricity is just as dangerous, but only if you’re very unlucky or very stupid. As his sparky book explains, radiation is really much the same. So why are we so scared of it, even when we’ve (usually) no need to be?

Cards on the table: I know nothing about science. But that’s OK, because this book is meant for Luddites like me. Not only do most of us fail to understand what radiation is (‘energy on the move’ is Jorgensen’s useful definition), we’re hopeless at weighing its risks and benefits. Radiation can be good and bad for you (sunlight is a good example).