[Illustration: Bernard Keisch]
Dr. Bernard Keisch received his B.S. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and his Ph.D. from Washington University. He is a Senior
Fellow with the Division of Sponsored Research of Carnegie-Mellon
University in Pittsburgh. He is presently engaged in a project that
deals with the applications of nuclear technology to art identification.
This is jointly sponsored by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and the
National Gallery of Art. Previously he was a nuclear research chemist
with the Phillips Petroleum Company and senior scientist at the Nuclear
Science and Engineering Corporation. He has contributed articles on art
authentication to a number of journals. For the AEC, in addition to this
booklet, he has written _The Atomic Fingerprint: Neutron Activation
Analysis_, _Secrets of the Past: Nuclear Energy Applications in Art and
Archaeology_, and _Lost Worlds: Nuclear Science and Archaeology_.
Nuclear energy is playing a vital role in the life of every man, woman,
and child in the United States today. In the years ahead it will affect
increasingly all the peoples of the earth. It is essential that all
Americans gain an understanding of this vital force if they are to
discharge thoughtfully their responsibilities as citizens and if they
are to realize fully the myriad benefits that nuclear energy offers
them.
The United States Atomic Energy Commission provides this booklet to help
you achieve such understanding.