Includes bibliographical references and index.

This textbook fills the gap between the very basic and the highly advanced volumes that are widely available on the subject. It offers a concise but comprehensive overview of a number of topics, like general relativity, fission and fusion, which are otherwise only available with much more detail in other textbooks. Providing a general introduction to the underlying concepts (relativity, fission and fusion, fundamental forces), it allows readers to develop an idea of what these two research fields really involve. The book uses real-world examples to make the subject more attractive and encourage the use of mathematical formulae. Besides short scientists' biographies, diagrams, end-of-chapter problems and worked solutions are also included.

Intended mainly for students of scientific disciplines such as physics and chemistry who want to learn about the subject and/or the related techniques, it is also useful to high school teachers wanting to refresh or update their knowledge andto interested non-experts.