Overview

Higgs Force tells the story of how physicists have unlocked the secrets of matter and the forces of nature to produce dramatic modern understandings of the cosmos. For centuries researchers have followed this quest and now there is just one component of the modern synthesis of particle physics whose existence is yet to be confirmed in the laboratory - the Higgs particle. It explains how a universe built on simple symmetrical principles engenders life and exhibits the diversity and complexity that we see all around us.

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9780718892753

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Reviews

Higgs Force takes a new approach to contemporary physics, and makes notoriously difficult material accessible and approachable. The book is very readable and entertaining, and I will certainly recommend it to my first year undergraduates, to whom it will greatly appeal. Tony Mann, President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics Higgs Force, by Nicholas Mee, takes the reader on a fascinating intellectual journey: our endeavours to uncover and understand the laws governing the universe, with particular emphasis on the beautiful ideas arising from symmetry. This is a remarkable story, and it is told here with lucidity and verve. Jonathan Evans, University Lecturer, Cambridge University

Higgs Force takes a new approach to contemporary physics, and makes notoriously difficult material accessible and approachable. The book is very readable and entertaining, and I will certainly recommend it to my first year undergraduates, to whom it will greatly appeal. Tony Mann, President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics Higgs Force, by Nicholas Mee, takes the reader on a fascinating intellectual journey: our endeavours to uncover and understand the laws governing the universe, with particular emphasis on the beautiful ideas arising from symmetry. This is a remarkable story, and it is told here with lucidity and verve. Jonathan Evans, University Lecturer, Cambridge University 'Nicholas Mee ... is uniquely qualified to explain the mysteries of the Higgs force. Dr Mee provides an accurate account of the Geneva experiments with the Large Hadron Collider, provides his readers with some insight into the character of eminent physicists, and furnishes a lucid account of current theories ... [he dispenses], as far as possible, with complex mathematics and makes excellent use of interesting diagrams. He also inserts some problems for readers that prompt engagement in the text ... a most suitable text for sixth formers and first year graduates.' George Care in The Bookbag 09/02/2012 'Imagine my excitement when a copy of Higgs Force landed on my mat with the satisfying whump that only a book can produce ... I loved the easy-going mathematical angle that the sciency bits come from, and the historical commentaries do a great job of breaking these up to allow time for the reader's intellectual digestive juices to do their work ... it'd be a great book for the interested but less mathematically confident reader, too.' T. K. Briggs on blogstronomy.blogspot.com 09/02/2012 'Nicholas Mee acts as the trigger as he selects the tales to tell of those whose work has helped reveal the structure of matter and the laws of nature, culminating in the present hunt for the Higgs particle. The result is an intellectual journey that ends at the LHC near Geneva but begins with the Big Bang 13.75 billion years ago (...) This book is far broader and more accessible than its title may suggest.' Manjit Kumar, Literary Review, Issue 396, March 2012 '... Higgs Force, the book that seeks to explain how modern physicists understand the universe by exposing the complex secrets of matter (...) You have to have a vested interest in the subject matter to be able to read Higgs Force, more than just a passing fancy.' Neil Buchanan, www.starburstmagazine.com, 08 March 2012 '... it provides a well-written and clearly explained overview of the way in which our understanding of the fundamental forces in nature has developed over the last two thousand years (...) It might be particularly suitable as preliminary reading for those intending to study Physics at university.' www.bookwitch.wordpress.com, 11 March 2012 'In Higgs Force, Nicholas Mee, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society with a doctorate in theorical particle physics from Cambridge University, lays out why the Higgs matters, and what is being done to find it.' www.economist.com, 3 March 2012

Author Information

Nicholas Mee is a theoretical physicist with a passion for understanding the fundamental workings of the universe. After a PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics from the University of Cambridge, he set up Virtual Image Publishing Ltd, a company developing educational software with the aim of promoting maths and science; raising educational achievements, both for school pupils and the wider public.

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