Unravelling the Mystery of the Atomic Nucleus A Sixty Year Journey 1896 1956 [Hardcover]

Unravelling the Mystery of the Atomic Nucleus is a history of atomic and nuclear physics. It begins in 1896 with the discovery of radioactivity, which leads to the discovery of the nucleus at the center of the atom. It follows the experimental discoveries and the theoretical developments up to the end of the Fifties.

Unlike previous books regarding on history of nuclear physics, this book methodically describes how advances in technology enabled physicists to probe the physical properties of nuclei as well as how the physical laws which govern these microscopic systems were progressively discovered. The reader will gain a clear understanding of how theory is inextricably intertwined with the progress of technology.

Unravelling the Mystery of the Atomic Nucleus will be of interest to physicists and to historians of physics, as well as those interested development of science.

This history of atomic and nuclear physics shows how technological advances have enabled physicists to probe the physical properties of nuclei, offering the reader a clear understanding of how theory is inextricably intertwined with the progress of technology.Foreword.- Chapter 1. Radioactivity, the First Puzzles.- The Uranic Rays of Henri Becquerel.- Polonium and Radium.- Emanation from Thorium.- The Puzzle is Disentangled.- Consecrations and Mourning: the End of an Era.- Chapter 2. A Nucleus at the Heart of the Atom.- Prehistory of the Atom.- 1897: The Electrons Are in the Atom.- The Scattering of ? Particles Makes It Possible to See a Nucleus in the Atom.- A Last Ingredient: Moseley Measures the Charge of the Nucleus in the Atom.- Chapter 3. Quantum Mechanics, the Unavoidable Path.- Branching Off.- An Improbable Beginning.- Niels Bohr: The Quanta Are in the Atom.- 1913-1923: Victories and Setbacks.- 1925: Spin and the Pauli Principle.- Quantum Mechanics.- Chapter 4. A Timid InfanlÓî