FOOTNOTES
[1]The word “noble” is perhaps a misnomer—these atoms do not even seek the company of each other.
[2]Quotes are put around the word atom because, having lost one of its electrons, it is no longer an ordinary neutral atom in its ground state.
[3]Yet.
[4]Actually the same state may be occupied by two neutrons and two protons. The reason is that neutrons and protons are magnetic particles with a north and a south pole. Consequently the demand for a difference can be satisfied by having one neutron (or proton) with its north pole pointing up and another with its north pole pointing down.
[5]It seems that neutrinos emitted in the company of electrons have the symmetry of a right screw; those emitted together with a positron have the symmetry of a left screw.
[6]Actually the weights rarely add up to the original 238 because, as a rule, one or more neutrons are emitted which carry off some of the original mass.
[7]Only a very few unlucky ones are overtaken by beta decay first.
[8]She and her husband were the discoverers of two elements, rhenium and masurium. One of these exists.
[9]A great portion of the energy might be lost if the neutron is quite fast. In this case the neutron can cause internal excitation of the nucleus.
[10]There seems to be a good possibility that he died from a hepatitis entirely unrelated to the initial radiation exposure.
[11]Half-lives of radioactive nuclei are uninfluenced by the extreme temperatures or pressures of the explosion, or by the state of motion of the particles or where they happen to be.
[12]A small amount may drift down to the ground in the winds. This may get deposited on leaves and grass.
[13]The last line of the table is based on our own estimates.
[14]Recent evidence suggests this number is sometimes twenty-three.
[15]Dubbed by its friends “Committee for Reactor Prevention.”
[16]One of the authors.
[17]This difference is not surprising. When we sterilize, we have to kill all germs, even those which are most resistant to radiation. Furthermore small organisms may escape the radiation effects by mere chance. On the other hand a big and complicated organism will cease to function when the most sensitive among its essential tissues have been destroyed.