Electron and nuclear physics

The student of physics at the senior college or early graduate level is confronted with a vast array of physical concepts, interpretative theories and experimental techniques, all of which have expanded rapidly in recent years. In addition to an extension of the earlier knowledge of alpha, beta, gamma, cosmic and x-rays, electrons, protons, photons, gas-filled and vacuum tubes, photoelectric effects, radioactivity, etc., new entities such as the positron and neutron have been discovered. The development of magnificent devices for the acceleration of elementary particles to high energies, as well as the use of projectiles from radioactive substances, has opened the door to the transmutation of elements and to a fuller knowledge of the nature of the nucleus of the atom. Radioactive substances have been produced by artificial means. The underlying purpose of this book is to present the experimental evidence for those concepts which lie in the domain of electron and nuclear physics. Simple statements of the experimental facts and physical principles of both the newer and older concepts are recognized as being of great help in bridging the gap between the early study of physics and the specialization of advanced research. A strenuous effort has been made to develop the subjects in such a sequence as to avoid reference at any point to discussions which appear later in the book. The early chapters treat of the electron, its dealing with electrical phenomena specific to the outer parts of the atom. In succeeding chapters the recharge, and mass, wave-length .and emission from hot and cold surfaces. These are followed by chapters are discussions of the phenomena involving the nuclear of atoms, such as positive rays, natural and artificial radioactivity, transmutations, etc. This large amount of material has been presented in one book, because many basic relations and experimental techniques are common to several of these fields of study.