This book is based on a nuclear physics course the author has taught to graduate students at the Physics Department, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Iraq, for the period 19782007. Also, it is based on the authors experiences in the field of nuclear physics, teaching, researching, and administration of certain scientific institutions and organizations. It consists of nine chapters and an appendix of some solved problems to illustrate the subject to the students. As a textbook in nuclear physics, it actually deals with the physics of the nucleus of the atom, from the time of discovering the nucleus by the alpha particle (a) scattering by gold film experiment by Rutherford (1911). Therefore, it describes and demonstrates the following important subjects:
Nuclear radius and shapes, properties
The nuclear force, properties, and features
Proposed nuclear models
Nuclear potential, different suggested types
Nuclear constituents, the protons (p) and the neutrons (N)
The nucleon as identity to p and N according to the charge and energy state
The angular momentum of the nucleus and its quadruple moment
The nuclear interactions
The rotation properties of the nucleus
The electromagnetic properties of the nucleus
Transitions, properties, and Fermi golden rules
Beta decay and the nonconservation of parity and the CPT conservation, the helicity
Nuclear particles physics
Solved problems

The Nobel Prize–winning physicist offers a fascinating popular introduction to nuclear physics from early atomic theory to its transformative applications. Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg is famous for developing the uncertainty principle, which bears his name, and for his pioneering work in quantum mechanics. A central figure in the development of the atomic bomb and a close colleague of Albert Einstein, Heisenberg wrote Nuclear Physics “for readers who, while interested in natural sciences, have no previous training in theoretical physics.”   Compiled from a series of his lectures on the subject, Heisenberg begins with a short history of atomic physics before delving into the nature of nuclear forces and reactions, the tools of nuclear physics, and its world-changing technical and practical applications. Nuclear Physics is an ideal book for general readers interested in learning about some of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century.