In some ways, chemistry can be viewed as having nothing whatsoever to do with the nucleus of the atoms.Bonding, spectroscopy, chemical reactivity, and such are all a consequence of the electrons of which an atom is partially composed. The nucleus, in chemical terms, is merely there. It contains the mass of the atom but it does not participate in chemistry.

Of course, this is a very limited view of chemistry as a whole and, in particular, the role of the nuclear chemistry. Just saying that the nucleus contains all of an atom's mass is not saying nearly enough about its role. The concept of the "atom"--the smallest unique piece of matter for any substance--can be dated back to the Greek philosopher, Democritus, but it took another 2,500 years before the concept really captured the imagination of scientists. Even John Dalton, who put forward the theory...