The ?eld of nuclear physics is entering the 21st century in an interesting and exciting way. On the one hand, it is changing qualitatively since new experim- tal developments allow us to direct radioactive and other exotic probes to target nuclei as well as to sparko? extremely energetic nuclear collisions. In parallel, detector systems are of an impressive sophistication. It is di?cult to envisage all the discoveries that will be made in the near future. On the other hand, the app- cations of nuclear science and technology are broadening the limits in medicine, industry, art, archaeology, and the environmental sciences, etc. This implies that the public perception of our ?eld is changing, smoothly but drastically, in c- trast to former times where nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants were the dominant applications perceived by citizens. Both aspects, scienti?c dynamism and popular recognition, should lead the ?eld to an unexpected revival. One of the consequences of the former could be that many brilliant students consider nuclear physics as an excellent ?eld in which to acquire professional expertise. Therefore, one of the challenges of the international nuclear physics community is to try to make the ?eld attractive. That means simply being pedagogic and enthusiastic. Thus, as organisers of an already established summer school, our contribution was to put an emphasis in this session on pedagogy and enthusiasm.
From the reviews of the first edition: "This book is certainly of interest to graduate students and researchers involved in one of the topics treated, since it bridges the gap between a standard textbook and the research literature. Also the extensive list of references at the end of each chapter is a very useful tool for people willing to explore the subject into more detail. The book is very well edited, in the good Springer tradition." (Physicalia, 38/4, 2002) "This book is a quality presentation of the talks presented at a Summer School held in Seville in 2000. The topics covered include ... NN interactions, the Shell Model, Interacting Boson models, collective motion, halo nuclei and the organizers of the school did manage to attract renowned researchers in these areas such as Witold Nazarewicz, Peter Ring, Walter Greiner and Francesco Iachello. ... The level is certainly at the advanced graduate level ... ." (A. P. Byrne, The Physicist, Vol. 39 (3), 2002) "The field of nuclear physics is entering the 21st century while experiencing a strong revival. ... This book is a set of extended lectures on basic and new topics ... . It is ideally suited to bridging the gap between the standard textbook material and the research literature, and provides the necessary foundation for acting as those who intend to work in any of the many disciplines where nuclear science and technology is going to play an important role in the future." (ETDE - Energy Database, February, 2002)