The weak nuclear force is the second weakest force, after the force of gravity, and it’s the force with the shortest range. It was first devised to explain beta decay, which was discovered by New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford in 1899
The fundamental force that acts between leptons and is involved in the decay of hadrons. The weak nuclear force is responsible for nuclear beta decay (by changing the flavor of quarks) and for neutrino absorption and emission.