The development of three directions in nuclear physics, originating from three ideas of Niels
Bohr, is analyzed: 1) the compound nucleus: is the compound state entirely chemical? what does
the energy distribution of neutron resonances imply? "dynamic intensification" of weak effects; the role of fluctuations and the description of the kinetics; and, pre-equilibrium processes; 2)
collective motions: how the collective and single-particle degrees of freedom coexist with one
another; parallel formation of the shell model and the theory of collective oscillations; the generalized
model; the problem of the moment of inertia; pair correlations and "superfluidity" in the
nucleus; giant resonances; and theory of finite Fermi systems; and, 3) the fission process: fission
in the liquid drop model and in the generalized model; shell corrections; double-hump fission
barriers; fission isomers; nonconservation of parity in fission; and, "exotic" asymmetric fission. The emphasis is on the elucidation of the development of physical ideas, so that computational
details are omitted.