Chemistry
The chemist studies the composition of substances.
For centuries man has known that various combinations and recombinations of substances produce other materials with different properties, and it is the chemist who combines and recombines.
A nuclear chemist, or radiochemist, specializes just as his name implies. He studies the effects of radiation on chemical substances, notes how chemical reactions are altered by the introduction of radioactivity, and analyzes the nature of nuclear energy materials and products.
When an experiment or a scientific application requires a purified compound, the chemist goes to work. When a substance is to be altered so that it takes on a different form, the chemist takes over. He develops better fuels for automobiles and space craft, better fibers for shirts and parachutes, better plastics for kitchens and submarines.