For the last half of the 20th century cobalt-60 units were the mainstay of radiation treatments for cancer. This book describes the development of the first cobalt -60 unit in the United States and the man behind it, Leonard Grimmett. Conceptually conceived before World War II it only became possible because of the development of nuclear reactors during the war. The initial idea was to replace the radium in the contemporary units of the time with cobalt-60, but with the realization that the reactors could produce much more cobalt-60 than originally thought the design of the cobalt-60 unit was drastically changed to take advantage that the application of the inverse square law to cancer radiation treatments would make. Although Grimmett conceived of and published his ideas first, the Canadians built the first units because of the capability of their reactor to produce more suitable cobalt-60 sources. The story tells how Grimmett and the other people involved came together at the time that the U S Atomic Energy Agency was pushing the use of radioactivity in medicine. But Grimmett died suddenly before his unit could be built and very little information about him was known until recently when various documents have come to light, allowing the full story to be told.

Blue, the world's favorite color, is elegantly showcased in more than 200 artworks from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Representing a diversity of movements, cultures, and media that spans the ages and the globe, the objects in Blue range from ancient Egyptian jewelry and traditional Japanese prints to Impressionist paintings and indigo-dyed textiles. Short essays from museum curators on the significance and symbolism of the color at various times and places provide historical context for this visual feast. With page edges dyed blue, this distinctive volume is a bijou treasure.

"With recipes for mixing, testing, applying, and firing hundreds of high-fire glazes, this fully illustrated reference will help all ceramists gain a better understanding of glazes and the factors that make them work."--Book Jacket.

This is an essential purchase for all painting conservators and conservation scientists dealing with paintings and painted objects. It provides the first definitive manual dedicated to optical microscopy of historical pigments. Illustrated throughout with full colour images reproduced to the highest possible quality, this book is based on years of painstaking research into the visual and optical properties of pigments. Now combined with the Pigment Dictionary, the most thorough reference to pigment names and synonyms avaiable, the Pigment Compendium is a major addition to the study and understanding of historic pigments.