Radioactivity: a history of a mysterious science

A New Science. The beginnings. The setting ; Rays and radiation ; Becquerel's discovery

The Curies. Maria Skłodowska ; A consequential meeting ; New elements!

Rutherford, Soddy, particles, and alchemy? Rutherford and the rays ; Where did the energy come from? ; Material rays? Discovery of the beta particle ; Thorium's rays ; Vanishing radioactivity ; Transmutation! ; A missed discovery ; Reactions ; Atomic energy? ; Tragedy ; More rays ; The alpha particle

The radioactive Earth. The prospectors ; How old is the earth? ; A new property of matter?

Speculations. Early theories ; Radioactivity and probability ; Kinetic models of the atom

Radioactivity and chemistry. The rise of radiochemistry ; Radioactive genealogy ; Chemistry of the imponderable ; Inseparable radioelements ; Isotopes ; Displacement laws ; The end of the lines ; More isotopes

Inside the atom. Building blocks ; Bombarding atoms ; The nuclear atom ; The nucleus and the periodic table ; The gamma rays ; Theories of the nucleus

Sequel. War! ; Radioactivity during World War I ; From radioactivity to nuclear and particle physics

Measuring and Using Radioactivity. Methods and instruments. Crucial choices ; Standardizing the measures ; Innovations ; Size, money, and machines

Radioactivity, medicine, and life. Unpleasant surprises ; From burns to treatments ; Rays and other organisms ; Miracle cure? ; Radioactive spas ; Dangers in the laboratory

New industries. Early industry ; Soaring demand and new institutions ; Paint that glowed in the dark ; A new poison ; Fission, bombs, and the uranium rush ; Radioactivity and the oil industry

Beyond the Story. Radioactivity's prime movers. Technology, resources, and professional changes ; Individuals ; Research groups ; Scientific ideals and culture ; Mentors and models ; Age, attitudes, and ambition ; Nationalism

Radioactivity and timeless questions : the quest for understanding. Models and theories for radioactivity ; Patterns in radioactivity's development ; Radioactivity and ideas about change ; Radioactivity and ideas about matter and energy ; Radioactivity and ideas about continuity and discontinuity ; Eternal conundrums

The imaginative appeal of a discovery. Mythological and romantic dimensions of radioactivity ; An ongoing task

Glossary of rays and radiations

Family trees for radioactive elements

Radioactivity's elusive cause

Nobel Prize winners included in this book

Radioactivity's web of influence

Timeline.