Two nuclear physicists who in 1945 discovered independently the phenomenon that is referred to either as “nuclear induction” or “nuclear magnetic resonance absorption” have been named to share this year's Nobel Prize in physics. Felix Bloch, professor of physics at Stanford University, and Edward M. Purcell, associate professor of physics at Harvard, were selected by the Swedish Academy of Science on November 6th to receive the award in recognition of their contributions to an improved understanding of the structure and forces of atomic nuclei.