As the greens, pinks, and blues luminated in the sky and cheers filled the air a new year was reigned in, welcoming the 21st century. The new century brought hope and promise, but in the scientific world it gave opportunity for a new leader to emerge and captivate the century. Most of the century still ahead of us has been grasped and about to be ran by the nuclear physicist. Their impact is already hard to fathom and yet 90 years lay ahead for them to carve their name into history and science.

Going green and saving the environment is a major controversy and concern in the world today that you can’t avoid regardless if you choose to believe it or not. The nuclear physicist is a major participant in the process of ceasing and helping this cause. They are revising their current process to eliminate the downfalls in order to make a more efficient and environmental friendly electricity (Role of Nuclear Physics Course in Modern Society). With the their hopeful achievement of this endeavor they will become legendary for solving a world crisis and saving the future as we know it.

Another area where nuclear physicists are found is in the medical world. The treatment is given as radiation and is based on how radiation reacts within the consumptive and the detectors that provide specialized images (SNM Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy). When giving such treatments the physicist must be extremely careful and give the right dosage to each individual, in fear of risking the patient’s health as well as their own, by radiation exposure (Nuclear Medicine Physicists). Many nuclear medical physicists are working now in labs to discover a new and impervious way to cure illnesses throughout the world as this technique only continues to thrive.

Nuclear physicists are also common leaders and names associated with weapons of mass destruction and war. The weapons can be a great advantage to have, but it is not necessarily good because it is extremely harmful when activated. Not everyone agrees with having these types of weapons at the tips of our fingers, so many try to banish them from our society. These weapons have not been successful and there is no doubt their usage and expansion will only increase, not cease. Therefore it is important to be educated in their aftermath, strategies, national security, and the devastation they bring (Alagappa). Today countries that publicly have this technology are: the United States, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan (Alagappa). There is speculation that other countries do acquire such devices, but have yet to come out of the closet. The quantity of provinces with this scientific knowledge will only surge.

Within the last few years the nuclear physicist has stepped out of the shadows and into the light, contributing immensely in multiple areas of their expertise. They will only continue to bombard the world with their discoveries. It is inevitable that your life will be changed dramatically by the work of the nuclear physicists. It may be by medical treatments, the hindering of global warming, or nuclear weapons. You can’t run and you certainly can’t hide! The work of the nuclear physicist will find you someway, somehow. So sit down, relax, and watch the nuclear physicists claim the 21st century as their time to shine!