This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

1. 1. Destroyer Of Worlds

   

   A concise, spoiler-free account of the seventy-year rise of nuclear physics, beginning with Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity and following scientists such as Ernest Rutherford, Enrico Fermi, Irène Joliot-Curie, and Edward Teller. Frank Close traces how curiosity-driven experiments unlocked the atom and led to both transformative technologies and the creation of atomic and hydrogen weapons, while examining the scientific, moral, and political questions that followed.

   The 13179th Greatest Book of All Time

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2. 2. Nuclear Physics

   

   A concise, accessible overview of the atomic nucleus that explains how protons and neutrons bind together, surveys core theoretical models (liquid-drop and shell models) and the nature of the strong nuclear force, and describes radioactive decay and nuclear reactions such as fission and fusion. It also covers key experimental techniques and discoveries, connects nuclear structure to particle physics (including mesons and quark-related ideas), and discusses practical applications and social consequences—from energy and medicine to weaponry—while highlighting unresolved questions and ongoing research.

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