Wade Allison is an academic scientist at Oxford. He spent 40 years researching, studying and teaching the basis of what we know about the physical world – and how this can be used in medicine to benefit our health. His first book was a student textbook with lots of maths. But more recently he has been writing with an eye to the future of his grandchildren – non-technical accounts, still carefully based on evidence, but without equations, so that more people can understand. But why should they?
We have survived on planet Earth with a more secure and interesting life than other animals because we learnt to think. But in the past we did not think enough about the environment. In his writings Wade shows what we need to do now to minimise the impact of climate change for all creatures on Earth.
The task is not that difficult but we need to look at the evidence and realise that many of the assumptions that we have inherited are wrong. In short we need to understand the world better, learn to trust one another and correct our use of energy. Wade's good news is that we can achieve all these, but only if we really want to. Why people have been too frightened to do so is a fascinating part of the story in its own right.
Websites: http://www.nuclear4life.com and http://www.radiationandreason.com
Twitter: @radiationreason
Nuclear is for Life: A Cultural Revolution. (978-0-9562756-4-6, Dec. 2015)
Radiation and Reason: The Impact of Science on a Culture of Fear. (978-0-9562756-1-5, Oct. 2009)
Fundamental Physics for Probing and Imaging. (978-0-19-920389-5, Oxford University Press, Oct. 2006)
Synopses:
“Radiation and Reason” describes in accessible language the rich choices offered by the physical world and where nuclear energy and its radiation fit in. For historical reasons that has been misunderstood in spite of its cancer-curing successes pioneered by Marie Curie. This mistake was recklessly compounded by the panic reaction to Fukushima, as explained in “Nuclear is for Life”. A change in culture is needed if mankind is to survive global warming. The solution is available, safe and cheap, but civilisation needs to think through what is happening. As the book explains the current consensus is pointing the wrong way.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Allison
Wade Allison on nuclear radiation from The Chemical Engineer on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/97112852
https://lecturecast.ucl.ac.uk:8443/ess/echo/presentation/fff119ff-20ad-4f5d-acd0-7817c0f5c242
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ6aL3wv4v0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj8Pl1AiOuA&feature=youtu.be
Trust and confidence are central to much of human life and these are most effectively built with personal contact. An appreciation of the evidence that should guide our choices on this Earth is no exception. My lectures around the world to schools, businesses, concerned citizens, students, indeed to anyone with a broad education, are well received. People want to hear, ask questions and think for themselves, and that is what I hope to convey with references to literature, humour and popular culture to put the message in context.
Contact email: [email protected]
Contact telephone: +44 1844 237602
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