Abstract
Weinberg's dimensional power counting for nuclei is reprised in this primer. The role of QCD and chiral symmetry in constructing effective Lagrangians is discussed. The two-scale hypothesis of Manohar and Georgi is combined with power counting in amplitudes to shed light on the scales of nuclear kinetic and potential energies, the size of strong-interaction coupling constants, the size of meson-exchange currents, and the relative sizes of $N$-nucleon forces. Numerous examples are worked out and compared to conventional nuclear models.

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