John Dirk Walecka was Professor of Physics at Stanford University from 1966 to 1987 and then went on to become Scientific Director of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) from 1986 to 1992. He is now Governor's Distinguished CEBAF Professor of Physics, Emeritus at the College of William and Mary. He has published numerous papers on nuclear physics, and in 1996 the American Physical Society recognized his work with the award of the Bonner Prize.
'Walecka is a leading nuclear theorist who has been strongly associated with electron scattering work at each of these world-class facilities, and he is undoubtedly uniquely qualified in this field … the present book is thus long-awaited masterly exposition of the field by its leading international proponent. In all respects this is an impressive and scholarly tome … it is hard to imagine this work being bettered in the near future, and it will surely now stand as the textbook in the field for many years to come. It deserves to be read by any serious student of the field.' R. F. Bishop, Contemporary Physics