There are very few with Philip Morrison's gifts, few who can lead us with firm knowledge whispering just the right encouragement as he guides us across the great ideas of science. Take this journey with one of the most astute navigators and you'll find yourself compelled to go deeper into some of the most daring adventures of modern science. Nothing is too grand or seemingly too trivial - the nature of time, the fabric of the atom, what it means to explore scientific horizons, the galaxies, even the search for unknown intelligence in the vast as-yet-uncharted universe. Then as deftly as Morrison takes us on a dazzling tour of the stars, he gently settles down for an intimate stop in the nursery where children have their first encounters with the things of everyday life, everyday things that cause us to wonder and make for discovery. With an equally firm grasp, Morrison, who witnessed the first tests of the atom bomb, takes us unflinchingly through some of the most frightening terrain of modern times, where the arms race can cause our ultimate destruction, but where sanity can still bring us peace. This extraordinary collection of essays by one of the most profound commentators on the successes and failures of the scientific enterprize concludes with lively portraits of men of science - Neils Bohr, Richard Feynman, Charles Babbage, among other notable friends and heroes.

This compact treatment of the basic theory of nuclear forces, structures, and reactions bases its explanations almost entirely on the familiar results of nonrelativistic quantum theory. Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, it presents careful and concise discussions of experimental ideas.
The three-part treatment begins with the descriptive theory of nuclei, covering basic facts, including size, spins and statistics, and beta-disintegration and the neutrino. The second part explores quantitative theory of nuclear forces, covering physical properties of protons, neutrons, and deuterons; scattering; and effects of molecular binding and of non-central forces. The final section examines complex nuclei and beta-decay, including nuclear reactions, scattering, and beta-disintegration.