[en] Some of the aspects of atomic physics which are being brought into focus by the construction of a new generation of heavy-ion accelerators are qualitatively reviewed. Types of processes occurring in the overlapping electron clouds are visualized in an elementary way and comparisons made with some recent observations on the possible formation of quasi-molecules and quasi-atoms. In conclusion the view is emphasized that inner shell ionization phenomena in ion-atom collisions form a bridge between processes of respectively nuclear and atomic origin. (Auth.)