The Nature of Matter

In 1939, with his aunt and co-worker, the late Lise Meitner, Otto Frisch became the first man to understand and prove to the world what had taken place when the uranium atom was split; in fact it was he who invented the phrase 'nuclear fission'.

In this book, writing in simple terms and with the clarity and elegance for which he is renowned, he describes the atomic theory of matter, showing how far the classical idea of elementary atoms holds good in the attempt to explain physical processes and at what point modern theories of sub-atomic structure need to be introduced.

He goes on to describe how in recent years the experimental analysis of the structure of atomic nuclei has revealed a whole new world of hitherto unknown particles. In doing so, Frisch takes the reader behind the façade of twentieth-century technology and offers not only an absorbing introduction to some of the most fundamental questions of physics, but also a penetrating insight into the nature of scientific activity.

Otto Robert Frisch, OBE, FRS, worked at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Copenhagen, under Niels Bohr between 1934 and 1939. He is now Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University and director of research in high-energy physics at the Caverdish Laboratory.