1) The meson theory of nuclear forces. 2) The meson theory of nuclear forces. I: General theory. 3) The meson theory of nuclear forces. Part II: Theory of the deuteron. Nos. 2 & 3 signed by Emilio Segrè

1940. Bethe, Hans (1906-2005). (1) The meson theory of nuclear forces. Offprint from Physical Review 55 (1939). 1261-1263pp. Without wrappers as issued. (2) The meson theory of nuclear forces. I: General theory. Offprint from Physical Review 57 (1940). 260-272pp. Without wrappers as issued. (3) The meson theory of nuclear forces. Part II: Theory of the deuteron. Offprint from Physical Review 57 (1940). 390-413pp. Without wrappers as issued. Together 3 items. 268 x 201 mm. Some toning, especially in no. (1), first and second leaves of no. (2) torn affecting a few words in the running heads, otherwise very good. From the library of Nobel laureate Emilio (truncated) Segrè (1905-89), with his signature on the first pages of nos. (2) and (3). First Editions, Offprint Issues. Hans Bethe, one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, pioneered the application of quantum mechanics to atomic, solid-state and (particularly) nuclear physics. “Bethe was unrivalled in his comprehensive mastery of nuclear phenomena, experimental data and descriptive models . . .by applying the emerging phenomenology Bethe achieved remarkable successes that ranged from understanding the energy production in stars to guiding the harnessing of nuclear fission as part of the Manhattan Project” (Negele, p. 165). He received the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his work in the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. The above three papers discuss the meson theory of nuclear forces, introduced by Yukawa in 1935, which posited that the enormous force binding protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus was caused by the exchange of particles known as mesons (now called pions). “As his starting point for nuclear physics, Hans [Bethe] chose the nuclear force, whose long-range behavior was given uniquely by a one-pion exchange potential. Before the war, Hans had worked out, in his own characteristic physical way, the spin-dependent part of that long-range potential, and he used it with an appropriate cutoff to calculate the properties of the deuteron” (Negele, p. 167). Negele, “Hans Bethe and the theory of nuclear matter,” in Hans Bethe and His Physics, ed. G. Brown and C.-H. Lee, pp. 165-173. These papers are from the library of Nobel Laureate Emilio Segrè, discoverer of the antiproton and the elements technetium and astatine. . (Inventory #: 37776)