The cover is a time-exposed photograph of an animated model of a uranium-235 atom. The center represents the nucleus, greatly exaggerated in size. The fine lines represent the electrons whirling about the nucleus.
Courtesy Union Carbide Corporation
C. JACKSON CRAVEN is a teacher’s teacher as well as a student’s teacher, and has had an active career aiding understanding of atomic energy as a member of the University of Tennessee faculty and on the staff of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. He has conducted short courses to instruct groups of high school science teachers in nuclear energy, and has served in a key capacity in training Institute demonstration-lecturers who visit high schools throughout the nation.
Dr. Craven worked during World War II for the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb. He earned bachelor’s and graduate degrees at the University of North Carolina, and later taught physics and mathematics at Delta State Teachers College and at Furman and Emory Universities.
His research interests include infrared spectroscopy, gaseous diffusion through porous media, and the physical properties of fibers.
OUR ATOMIC WORLD
By C. Jackson Craven
The story of atomic energy evolves from the curiosity of people concerning the nature and structure of matter, the stuff of which all material things are made.
The Greeks Were Curious About Matter
Certain philosophers of ancient Greece—Democritus for one—were fascinated by the question: what is matter? You can imagine one of the philosophers saying to his pupils: