Neutron radiography has in recent years emerged as a useful and
complementary technology for radiation diagnosis. It is now routinely
used in industrial quality assurance and in support of selected research
and developmental activities. Conferences are held on the subject,
pertinent handbooks exist, and technical papers appear regularly
reporting on new developments. While neutron radiography has indeed
passed through the transition from a scientific curiosity to
technological relevance, it is a sign of its continuing dynamic
evolution that little material has appeared which provides an integrated
mathematical and physical analysis of the subject possessing both an
instructional as well as reference function. It is our hope that this
monograph will fill this need. The distinctiveness of neutron
radiography rests on the unique interactions between neutrons and
nuclei. This leads to some special relationships between the material
and geometrical properties of an object and the neutron radiographic
image. The evolution of a technical discipline demands that specific
conceptual constructs be developed and their mathematical
representations examined and compared with controlled experiments.
Experience has convinced us that a particular and substantial body of
knowledge has accumulated endowing neutron radiography with the
essential foundations of a unique mathematical and physical science. Our
scientific and professional involvement in neutron radiography began
some 15 years ago when the senior author (A.A.H.) found himself with
convenient access to the McMaster University Nuclear Reactor and
research support from the Government of Canada.
