Need for accelerating electrons

Photons for nuclear disintegration experiments were not abundantly available in the early days of nuclear physics, whereas accelerated ions led the way. When electrons could be accelerated into the 20--30 MeV range, they found application not only to nuclear disintegration of the elements of the periodic table but also to x-ray radiography and to deep therapy. Energies of interest for probing nuclear structure by electron scattering and for meson production followed soon after. The elementary nature of the electron has now made it a valuable tool for present day particle physics; and the synchrotron radiation, which is an obstacle for some accelerating processes, has become a much sought after source of photons for experiments at atomic structure energies