Contrary to the author's stated audience--radiology residents studying for their board examinations--the work has material considerably broader and deeper than what would be required of that mission alone. In fact, the book could well serve as a text for a two-term bioengineering course if it was studied cover to cover. By judicious selection, it could also be abstracted to form the basis of a single-term board course or as an overview for a less technically inclined audience.

Part 1 opens with a three-chapter survey of the modalities in a department and ends with an appendix on the role of a medical physicist. Part 2, titled "Scientific and Technical Basis," consists of 14 chapters that cover kinematics, electromagnetism, nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, electronics, detectors, human perception, physical metrics of image quality, computers, PACS, and a grounding in the mathematics of the preceding topics (periodic functions, logs, calculus, probability, and statistics). Throughout this section, the author not only describes the dry facts of the study, but also includes interesting historical background (such as the family history of the Becquerels and the romantic habits of Nicola Tesla). Parts 3 and beyond cover single-topic collections of chapters, including analog radiographic and fluoroscopic methods and digital imaging methods (computed radiography, digital radiography, CT, MRI, sonography, nuclear medicine, PET, and emerging methods). The final section concludes on radiation safety. The work ends with a "Solutions to Exercises" section, more than 200 references, and an index of over 2,000 entries.