Blue sky and hot piles: The evolution of radiative transfer theory from atmospheres to nuclear reactors (Q1867864)

The article gives a brief history of the theories of radiation transfer through matter. Beginning with questions about the extinction of sunlight in the atmosphere, the theory developed during the past 100 years into a rich field of mathematical physics. Instances for the application of mathematical tools to radiation transfer phenomena include the transfer equations for a scattering medium, moment methods, integral equations, the principle of invariance, neutron transport theory, and probabilistic treatments. The paper ends with a chapter on military applications of transfer theory and a survey on important publications.