Smashing Physics

Author: Jon Butterworth
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1472210328
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

Book Description
The discovery of the Higgs boson made headlines around the world. Two scientists, Peter Higgs and François Englert, whose theories predicted its existence, shared a Nobel Prize. The discovery was the culmination of the largest experiment ever run, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. But what really is a Higgs boson and what does it do? How was it found? And how has its discovery changed our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature? And what did it feel like to be part of it? Jon Butterworth is one of the leading physicists at CERN and this book is the first popular inside account of the hunt for the Higgs. It is a story of incredible scientific collaboration, inspiring technological innovation and ground-breaking science. It is also the story of what happens when the world's most expensive experiment blows up, of neutrinos that may or may not travel faster than light, and the reality of life in an underground bunker in Switzerland. This book will also leave you with a working knowledge of the new physics and what the discovery of the Higgs particle means for how we define the laws of nature. It will take you to the cutting edge of modern scientific thinking.

Most Wanted Particle

Author: Jon Butterworth
Publisher: The Experiment
ISBN: 1615192468
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
An accessible account of the work leading up to the monumental discovery of the Higgs boson, from one of the physicists who was there. Particle physics as we know it depends on the Higgs boson: It’s the missing link between the birth of our universe—as a sea of tiny, massless particles—and the tangible world we live in today. But for more than 50 years, scientists wondered: Does it exist? Physicist Jon Butterworth was at the frontlines of the hunt for the Higgs at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider—perhaps the most ambitious experiment in history. In Most Wanted Particle, he gives us the first inside account of that uncertain time, when an entire field hinged on a single particle, and life at the cutting edge of science meant media scrutiny, late-night pub debates, dispiriting false starts in the face of intense pressure, and countless hours at the collider itself. As Butterworth explains, our first glimpse of the elusive Higgs brings us a giant step closer to understanding the universe—and points the way to an entirely new kind of physics. Praise for Most Wanted Particle “Butterworth is an insider’s insider. His narrative seethes with insights on the project’s science, technology and “tribes,” as well as his personal (and often amusing) journey as a frontier physicist.” —Nature “A vivid account of what the process of discovery was really like for an insider.” —Peter Higgs, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics “If you want to know why the discovery of the Higgs boson matters, read this book!” —Brian Cox, author of Why Does E=mc2?

Smashing Physics

Author: Jon Butterworth
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781472210333
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
The discovery of the Higgs boson made headlines around the world. Two scientists, Peter Higgs and Fran�ois Englert, whose theories predicted its existence, shared a Nobel Prize. The discovery was the culmination of the largest experiment ever run, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. But what really is a Higgs boson and what does it do? How was it found? And how has its discovery changed our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature? And what did it feel like to be part of it? Jon Butterworth is one of the leading physicists at CERN and this book is the first popular inside account of the hunt for the Higgs. It is a story of incredible scientific collaboration, inspiring technological innovation and ground-breaking science. It is also the story of what happens when the world's most expensive experiment blows up, of neutrinos that may or may not travel faster than light, and the reality of life in an underground bunker in Switzerland. This book will also leave you with a working knowledge of the new physics and what the discovery of the Higgs particle means for how we define the laws of nature. It will take you to the cutting edge of modern scientific thinking.

Smash It! Crash It! Launch It!

Author: Rain Newcomb
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN: 9781600595097
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Book Description
Science.

Bankrupting Physics

Author: Alexander Unzicker
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1137365420
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Book Description
An award-winning scientist argues that theoretical physics has become too abstract and calls for science to return to the experimental method The recently celebrated discovery of the Higgs boson has captivated the public's imagination with the promise that it can explain the origins of everything in the universe. It's no wonder that the media refers to it grandly as the "God particle." Yet behind closed doors, physicists are admitting that there is much more to this story, and even years of gunning the Large Hadron Collider and herculean number crunching may still not lead to a deep understanding of the laws of nature. In this fascinating and eye-opening account, theoretical physicist Alexander Unzicker and science writer Sheilla Jones offer a polemic. They question whether the large-scale, multinational enterprises actually lead us to the promised land of understanding the universe. The two scientists take us on a tour of contemporary physics and show how a series of highly publicized theories met a dead end. Unzicker and Jones systematically unpack the recent hot theories such as "parallel universes," "string theory," and "inflationary cosmology," and provide an accessible explanation of each. The auhors argue that physics has abandoned its evidence-based roots and shifted to untestable mathematical theories, and they issue a clarion call for the science to return to its experimental foundation.

Smash!

Author: Mark Weakland
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1476542228
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

Book Description
"Uses popular cartoon character Wile E. Coyote to demonstrate science concepts involved with simple machines"--Provided by publisher."--

Strange Beauty

Author: George Johnson
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307765458
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 447

Book Description
With a New Afterword "Our knowledge of fundamental physics contains not one fruitful idea that does not carry the name of Murray Gell-Mann."--Richard Feynman Acclaimed science writer George Johnson brings his formidable reporting skills to the first biography of Nobel Prize-winner Murray Gell-Mann, the brilliant, irascible man who revolutionized modern particle physics with his models of the quark and the Eightfold Way. Born into a Jewish immigrant family on New York's East 14th Street, Gell-Mann's prodigious talent was evident from an early age--he entered Yale at 15, completed his Ph.D. at 21, and was soon identifying the structures of the world's smallest components and illuminating the elegant symmetries of the universe. Beautifully balanced in its portrayal of an extraordinary and difficult man, interpreting the concepts of advanced physics with scrupulous clarity and simplicity, Strange Beauty is a tour-de-force of both science writing and biography.

Big Science

Author: Michael Hiltzik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451675763
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Book Description
A heroic time -- South Dakota boy -- "I'm going to be famous" -- Shims and sealing wax -- Oppie -- The deuton affair -- The cyclotron republic -- John Lawrence's mice -- Laureate -- Mr. Loomis -- "Ernest, are you ready?" -- The racetrack -- Oak Ridge -- The road to Trinity -- The postwar bonanza -- Oaths and loyalties -- The shadow of the Super -- Livermore -- The Oppenheimer affair -- The return of small science -- The "clean bomb" -- Element 103.

Science Encyclopedia

Author: National Geographic Kids
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1426325428
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
Offers an illustrated encyclopedia of general science, with informative and fun facts on a broad array of scientific topics.

A Map of the Invisible

Author: Jon Butterworth
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473537703
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A magnificent, compelling and insightful voyage to the frontier of knowledge from a great writer with a deep understanding.' Brian Cox What is the universe really made of? How do we know? Follow the map of the invisible to find out... Over the last sixty years, scientists around the world have worked together to explore the fundamental constituents of matter, and the forces that govern their behaviour. The result, so far, is the ‘Standard Model’ of elementary particles: a theoretical map of the basic building blocks of the universe. With the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, the map as we know it was completed, but also extended into strange new territory. A Map of the Invisible is an explorer’s guide to the Standard Model and the extraordinary realms of particle physics. After shrinking us down to the size of a sub-atomic particle, pioneering physicist Jon Butterworth takes us on board his research vessel for a journey in search of atoms and quarks, electrons and neutrinos, and the forces that shape the universe. Step by step, discovery by discovery, we journey into the world of the unseen, from the atom to black holes and dark matter, and beyond, to the outer reaches of the cosmos and the frontiers of human knowledge. Beautifully illustrated, with gradually evolving maps offering an inventive visual glossary as the journey progresses, A Map of the Invisible provides an essential introduction to our world, and to particle physics. It is a landmark work of non-fiction by one of the great scientists and science writers of today.