Bo Lindell books

Bo Lindell’s History of Radiation, Radioactivity, and Radiological Protection

Fourth boos, ‘The Toil of Sisyphus‘, now available for free in English!

Bo Lindell’s authoritative four-book series, The History of Radiation, Radioactivity, and Radiological Protection, resting on his first-hand experience and scientific accuracy and spiced with his vivid sense of humour, has been translated into English thanks to significant efforts by the NSFS, and generous additional funding by the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS); the five Nordic regulatory authorities; and the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA).

The fourth and final book in the series, The Toil of Sisyphus, is now available. This fascinating and entertaining book is based on Lindell’s own central role in the international development of radiological protection. While the title alludes to the efforts of the nuclear power industry to gain public acceptance, the book covers all aspects of radiation and protection problems. Being a first-hand account, this book is formatted as chronological diary notes rather than the topical orientation of the earlier volumes. Studded with funny and sometimes dramatic anecdotes, it is very easy to read yet full of important information.

You can obtain the four books in two ways:

The first two books, Pandora’s Box and The Sword of Damocles, cover the history of radiation and protection from ancient Greece to the early use of x rays and radioactivity for medical and other purposes, and the development and first use of nuclear weapons. The third book, The Labours of Hercules, focuses on Rolf Sievert and international developments such as progress of nuclear power; nuclear weapons and global fallout; early nuclear accidents; medical uses of radiation; and more. The books have received rave reviews, e.g., in the Journal of Radiological Protection.

During his long and eventful life, Bo Lindell (former ICRP Chair, former UNSCEAR Chair, former head of the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, etc etc) met most of the significant contributors to the 20th century development of radiation science and radiological protection and contributed personally to many of the crucial events.

The four-book series was originally published in Swedish between 1996 and 2011.

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