I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. H.J. Hay for his supervision. His ability to impart his experience has enriched many discussions and contributed to the solution of many problems encountered during the course of this work. The low intensity of the beam-foil source necessitated long hours of data collection which were shared with Dr. Hay and my fellow students M.H. Doobov and C.S. Newton. The beam-foil chamber used for the latter part of this work was constructed by C.S. Newton. Part of the

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... computer programme used for the He II data analysis ( §6.1) was supplied by M.H. Doobov. I would like to thank all members of the technical staff in the Department of Nuclear Physics for their efforts in maintaining the necessary equipment. The skill of Allen Freeman in producing large numbers of very thin carbon foils and maintaining the 2 MeV accelerator is appreciated. I also thank all nuclear physicist members of this department, not only for tolerating "those beam-foilers" on the timeshared computer, but also for their willingness to assist when able. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the helpful discussions with Dr. L.J. Tassie of the Department of Theoretical Physics. I am grateful to Prof. Sir E.W. Titterton and Prof. J.O. Newton for allowing me the use of the excellent facilities of this laboratory and to the Australian National University for the scholarship which provided the opportunity to undertake this course. The help and encouragement given by my wife, Irja, .is a source of strength for any task undertaken. I cannot express my appreciation for her contribution in words. My daughter Brigitta has displayed a tolerance of missed outings for which I am grateful.