A more detailed review by William Mills of the International Radiation Protection Association and past president of the US Health Physics Society appears in the March issue of Physics World.

In Permissible Dose: A History of Radiation Protection in the Twentieth Century, J Samuel Walker, official historian of the NRC, focuses his attention on the role that the US federal agencies play in radiation safety and on how radiation-protection regulations have evolved over the past century. He describes how principles and practices have changed over time in response to scientific and political developments.

Overall, Walker does a very good job in describing the role of US federal agencies with regard to radiation protection, and his book will appeal to those who want to gain a fuller understanding of how such agencies shape science policy. However, the main drawback of the book is that it focuses almost exclusively on the US, with very little coverage given to standards elsewhere in the world. The US has, in my view, been overzealous in promoting overly restrictive radiation-protection standards and has much to learn from Europe, where standards are based on more reasonable scientific judgement.