Title: Nucleus :
Authors: Mackintosh, Ray.
Date: 2001
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press,
Physical description: 143 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
Language: English
LC classification: Q
Abstract: "Nucleus: A Trip into the Heart of Matter by Ray Mackintosh, Jim Al-Khalili, Bjorn Jonson and Teresa Pena is an illustrated book filled with lively prose and captivating details that describe the evolution of our understanding of this phenomenon. The authors, who are expert nuclear physicists and skilled popularizers, tell the story of the nucleus from the early experimental work of the quiet New Zealander Lord Rutherford to the huge atom-smashing machines of today and beyond. Nucleus tells of the protons and neutrons of which the nucleus is made, why some nuclei crumble and are radioactive, and how scientists came up with the "standard model," which shows the nucleus composed of quarks held together by gluons. Nucleus is also the tale of the people behind the struggle to understand a fascinating subject more fully, and of how a vibrant research community uses the power of the nucleus to probe unanswered scientific questions while others seek to harness the nucleus as a tool of twenty-first century medicine.". "Intended for a general audience, this book unravels the scientific mysteries that surround the subject of the nucleus. Anyone with a passing interest in science will delight in this guide to the nuclear age."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: Foreword / Ben Mottelson -- Introduction: Our world and its infinite variety -- The size of things: From the immensity of space to the invisible world of the nucleus -- The discovery of nuclei: How a new world was revealed by radioactivity -- Particles or waves?: Strange laws at the heart of matter -- Measuring nuclei: Determining the shape and size of minute objects -- Strange nuclear material: The contents of a nucleus -- The nuclear landscape: The variety and abundance of nuclei -- Applications of nuclear physics: Interactions with everyday life -- Nuclear architecture: From hydrogen to neutron stars -- Cosmic furnaces: The stars and the birth of elements -- Our violent origin: Cosmology and the nuclear processes in the Big Bang.
Subject headings (LCSH): Nuclear astrophysics--Popular works.; Nuclear physics--Popular works.; Nuclear physics--Research--History--Popular works.; Nuclear physics--Research--History.; Nuclear physics.