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ATOM IN MODERN SCIENCE, 41 knowledge in this fundamental field of modern physics
Finally, if one compares elementary particle physics with astrophysics, one obtains a clear picture of what this science is and what its aims are At the present time, research into this world is moving in two main directions which, from the stand point of the problem, tend to diverge diametrically Man is querying and seeking the smallest and largest dimensions of the universe The boundary of the subnuclear world, the minute domain of the elementary particle, lies at one thousandth of one milliardth of a millimeter Research into the macrocosmos on the other hand extends 6000 million light years into outer space
The difference between these two disciplines of science can be characterised in another way As a branch of nuclear physics is concerned with the structures of the fundamental building blocks, the nucleons, and astrophysics with events taking place in the cosmos, such as we are now experiencing with the discovery of the mysterious pulsars and quasars
Perhaps one day the two sciences will meet at a point at which the smallest reveals the meaning of the largest or vice versa
NUCLEAR TRANSFORMATIONS IN NATURE -SOLAR PROCESSES
The problem of solar radiations remained one of the most puzzling riddles of science until the discovery of radio active transformations and the artificial transformations of elements revealed to us tremendous sources of energy hidden in the depths of atomic nuclei We have seen that practically every clement can become a nuclear fuel, liberating tremendous amounts of energy, provided it can be
