This book is intendedas a textbook fora radiationphysicscourseinacademic medical physics graduate programs as well as a reference book for candidates preparingforcerti?cationexaminationsinmedicalphysicssubspecialities.The book may also be of interest to many professionals, not only physicists, who in their daily occupations deal with various aspects of medical physics or radiation physics and have a need or desire to improve their understanding of radiation physics. Medical physics is a rapidly growing specialty of physics, concerned with the applicationofphysicstomedicine,mainly butnotexclusivelyinthe app- cation of ionizing radiation to diagnosis and treatment of human disease. In contrasttootherphysicsspecialties,suchasnuclearphysics,condensedmatter physics, and high-energy physics, studies of modern medical physics attract a much broader base of professionals, including graduate students in me- cal physics; medical residents and technology students in radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging; students in biomedical engineering; and students in radiation safety and radiation dosimetry educational programs. These prof- sionals have diverse background knowledge of physics and mathematics, but they all have a common need to improve their knowledge and understanding of the physical concepts that govern the application of ionizing radiation in diagnosis and treatment of disease. Numerous textbooks that cover the various subspecialties of medical physicsareavailable,buttheygenerallymakeatransitionfromtheelementary basic physics directly to the intricacies of the given medical physics subs- cialty. The intent of this textbook is to provide the missing link between the elementary physics and the physics of the subspecialties of medical physics.
