FACTS AND MYSTERIES IN ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS

by Veltman Martinus J G

New Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics (Revised Edition)This book provides a comprehensive overview of modern particle physics accessible to anyone with a true passion for wanting to know how the universe works. We are introduced to the known particles of the world we live in. An elegant explanation of quantum mechanics and relativity paves the way for an understanding of the laws that govern particle physics. These laws are put into action in the world of accelerators, colliders and detectors found at institutions such as CERN and Fermilab that are in the forefront of technical innovation. Real world and theory meet using Feynman diagrams to solve the problems of infinities and deduce the need for the Higgs boson.Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics offers an incredible insight from an eyewitness and participant in some of the greatest discoveries in 20th century science. From Einstein's theory of relativity to the elusive Higgs particle, this book will fascinate and educate anyone interested in the world of quarks, leptons and gauge theories.This book also contains many thumbnail sketches of particle physics personalities, including contemporaries as seen through the eyes of the author. Illustrated with pictures, these candid sketches present rare, perceptive views of the characters that populate the field.The Chapter on Particle Theory, in a pre-publication, was termed "superbly lucid" by David Miller in Nature (Vol. 396, 17 Dec. 1998, p. 642).

Genres: Physics, Science, Nonfiction, Academic

348 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2003

Reviews

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

May now need a bit update. This book provide an excellence history on particle physics. There are beautiful color illustrations and photos of scientists thoughout the book.

[Alecsphys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I missed when I was a student and I was looking around for building a unified, simple and meaningful picture of the particle physics. Even if the books stops some years before the discovery in 2012 of the Higgs' boson, it is worth to read it! Thanks Veltman

[Arthur Ryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in particle physics. Veltman combines history, biography, and anecdotes about all the leading figures that contributed to the Standard Model. He gives clear explanations of basic quantum theory and particle accelerator design. This book was published in 2003 and gives a snapshot of the state of knowledge at that time. I found the discussion of neutrino mass especially illuminating since it was an open question as to whether they were massless or had a small mass. This shows how careful experimenters were, leaving open the possibility of mass until experiment confirmed it or ruled it out. Of course, we now know that neutrinos have mass. Also highly enjoyable was the discussion of the existence of the Higgs boson - a theoretical predication but unobserved at that time. The text includes a rough mass estimate of 100 GeV - fairly close to the value of 125.35 GeV measured much later. Finally, I very much enjoyed the discussion of how the the Z0 boson, Higgs boson, and others emerged from the need to cancel infinities in the perturbation expansion of scattering amplitudes - a fascinating example of how faithfully following the math led to experimentally verifiable predictions.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a real newby in particle physics (had no classes or earlier knowledge) it is an extremely challenging subject to understand. I am quite fascinated by physics and am a very technical person. The author does a job job at explaining the basics with easier to understand phrases, but after a while I lose sight of what is actually said and forget the meaning of the names for less basic particles and their characteristics. Good explanations, I am just not at this level yet. I did not end up finishing the book because I spent about a year trying to complete it and at the end it did not feel like reading for pleasure anymore. Maybe in a couple of years I will revisit it and try again.

[Bach Pham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, thorough book on fundamental particle physics. It touch on most of the basic concepts in this field and the explanations are very elaborative. There are certain parts where it get slightly too technical for laymen readers to understand completely, so maybe a second/third read would be very helpful. This book is a full package for whoever wants to start learning about particle physics; it would be a great starting point.
A tiny thing that bothers me is that the author mentioned the (very) hypothetical graviton as an actual part of the Standard Model, even though it is not even close to being discovered.
The author, Veltman, is himself a Nobel laureate and one of the authoritative figures in the field, so this book already has some weight behind it. An interesting thing in this book is that Veltman also includes biography and anecdotes of past and present famous scientists who contribute to the field; some of the stories he told are even personal, so this really gives some life and human nature to this very dry field.

[Synthetic Vox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book. Veltman explains particle physics to the lay reader in an accessible way. He also manages some side commentary about how and why physicists do things they way they do, and the nature of science that truly, truly delights. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in a witty primer to particle physics. He assumes you have minimal knowledge of the topic, so as long as you remember even basic cell structure from chemistry you will be fine. He also includes a number of biographies of great physicists/scientists, which are interesting and informative.

[Cody Lovorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best comprehensive overviews of particle physics and the Standard Model that I've read to date. The author generally steers clear of the math that tends to discourage the common lay reader and does not focus on a lot of the history and backstory. Rather he "cuts to the chase" and systematically describes the concepts and mechanics behind quantum theory.

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took it out again after the author’s death in January ‘21 and marvelled again at his clear explanation in particular of chromodynamics, his often hilarious personal observations and the witty captions on colleague geniuses.

[Jacques · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer by a scientific to enter inside the particles world as seen by modern scientifics. A travel thru scientific thoughts and mind for the last century.