All popular science titles strive to be both absorbing and enlightening, and this offering from Jorgensen (radiation medicine, Georgetown Univ.) is no exception. However, while aiming for narrative, the author often misses the mark and provides too much background. That, combined with his attempts not to overburden readers, leaves one wondering why some facts, such as William Lawrence Bragg (winner of the 1915 Nobel Prize for Physics) having a cuttlefish named after him, are featured, while others, including crediting Rosalind Franklin with the discovery of DNA (rather than James D. Watson and Francis Crick), were not. Compelling extraneous details add to the story, but since this work has the stated purpose of discussing the health risks associated with radiation, the prose could certainly have been shorter. Indeed, the section on current dangers doesn't begin until halfway through the book. It seems that the author expects many readers to skip ahead to this section as several anecdotes from the preceding chapters are repeated. VERDICT Jorgensen's easy-to-follow and enthusiastic style will appeal to readers who are interested in the study of radiation yet have plenty of time on their hands to get to the information they seek.—Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston