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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Just Finished Reading: Particle Physics – A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close

This book is part of my continuing plan to use the excellent VSI series to expand my knowledge base into new areas and deepen my knowledge in others. I have read several books in the area of Quantum Mechanics and Sub-atomic physics over the years and, though I don’t fully understand everything I read, find myself fascinated by this bizarre aspect of our reality.

Starting from seemingly very simple questions regarding matter and existence – so much so that for the first few pages I thought that the author had pitched the contents too low even for an introduction - this small volume quickly ramped up the pace forcing me, at times, to struggle to keep up. Fortunately for my Humanities trained brain, the author peppered this book with very few mathematical equations and charts but with enough detailed diagrams for me to grasp the meanings behind his explanations. I’m still convinced that I missed quite a bit but felt confident enough to imagine various ‘flavours’ of Quarks forming the sub-atomic particles we know and love. I’d heard about many of them before but was introduced to a few that were new to me including the Bottom Quark – yes, you read that right! Funnily these guys seem to answer the question of why there is something rather than nothing. Apparently bottom quarks are more massive than their anti-matter alternative so, not long after the Big Bang and the resultant matter/anti-matter annihilation there was still enough matter left over to make everything you see around you. At least that’s what I took away from the explanation offered. So next time a theist asks that particularly annoying question you can confidently reply: Bottom Quarks!

Anyway, the author covers theories of matter, how we actually learn about it, the different types of accelerators and colliders and how the particles are actually detected. Further discussion is on ‘exotic’ matter, anti-matter and the curious question of where matter comes from. Questions raised at the end of the book cover ideas on Dark matter (and Dark energy) as well as the hopes for the, then under construction, Large Hadron Collider.

All in all this was an interesting if, at times, difficult read. It certainly hasn’t put me off reading more on this fascinating subject and I’m hopeful that one day I’ll be able to wrap my head around some of the more general ideas in this field. I’ll never understand the maths but at least I can stand back and appreciate the wonderful strangeness of it all. Recommended for anyone who fancies a bit of mind stretching.

7 comments:

dbackdad said...

Ah, some light reading. Good for you.

Stephen said...

I've been looking for a way to bolster my flagging science reading -- this series may be it. Thanks for sharing.

CyberKitten said...

dbackdad said: Ah, some light reading. Good for you.

[grin] Most of what I read is pretty light, so I try for something a bit heavier from time to time....

CyberKitten said...

sc said: I've been looking for a way to bolster my flagging science reading -- this series may be it. Thanks for sharing.

It's a very good series of books on a whole range of subjects. I've read about 20 so far and have barely scratched the surface. Also new volumes in the series are regularly being published.

dbackdad said...

I'm reading Why Does E=mc2? right now, which is very good, and suprisingly accessible. I hope to review it on my blog sometime in the next week.

John said...

Now, in the big bang when it was antimatter and matter dueling it out, there was less than 1% of matter left after the battle, and it created all of this. I think about this when I think about the scale of the cosmos, and it's one of the most amazing aspects of the "quark soup" stage of the first 380 million years after the big bang.

CyberKitten said...

dbackdad said: I'm reading Why Does E=mc2? right now, which is very good, and suprisingly accessible.

I've heard of that but was kinda put off by the title - too much math I was thinking..... [grin]

Cosmology rocks doesn't it John? Mind blowing stuff.