Ervin B. Podgorsak was born in Vienna, Austria and grew up in Ljubljana, Slovenia where he completed his undergraduate studies in technical physics at the University of Ljubljana in 1968. He then studied at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, USA and obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics. He completed his post-doctoral studies in medical physics at the University of Toronto in 1974 and moved to McGill University in Montreal, where he currently holds positions of Professor of Medical Physics and Director of the Medical Physics department.

to Modern Physics.- Coulomb Scattering.- Rutherford-Bohr Model of the Atom.- Production of X Rays.- Two#x2014;Particle Collisions.- Interactions of Charged Particles with Matter.- Interactions of Photons with Matter.- Energy Transfer and Energy Absorption in Photon Interactions with Matter.- Interactions of Neutrons with Matter.- Kinetics of Radioactive Decay.- Modes of Radioactive Decay.- Production of Radionuclides.- Waveguide Theory.- Particle Accelerators in Medicine.

This book summarizes basic knowledge of atomic, nuclear, and radiation physics that professionals need for efficient and safe use of ionizing radiation. Concentrating on the underlying principles of radiation physics, it covers prerequisite knowledge for medical physics courses on the graduate and post-graduate levels, providing the link between elementary physics on the one hand and the intricacies of the medical physics specialties on the other.