The Particle at the End of the Universe - Book Report/Review Example

The particle at the end of the universe The particle at the end of the universe Introduction The book en d, “The Particle at the end of the Universe: How the hunt for the Higgs boson leads us to the edge of a new world” was written by Sean Carroll. Dutton published the 352 page book in the year 2012. In the book, the Carroll main focus is the factors that played a role in the Higgs boson “the god particle” discovery. The Higgs boson is an important particle that gives all the fundamental particles the property called mass. In summary, the Higgs boson is a fundamental property in mass formation. In the pursuit of understanding matter, physicists studied Higgs boson for several years. The pursuit has led to the physicists forming several pyramid ideas. In the book, Carroll (2012) gives the history in relation to the formation of the Higgs boson. The story begins 2, 500 years ago with the Greets and ends with an atom smasher that led to Higgs discovery. The atom smasher weighs 12, 500 ton and is the tool used in the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Book Content Human curiosity is the fundamental thing when it comes to invention and innovation. Since the ancient Greek’s time, humans have been curious to understand the basic principles that govern the Universe functions. The desire to understand the world is the basis of particle physics. If not the desire, it would not be important since it does not affect our day to day lives. 1970s is the period under which the characterized by a distinct experimental result that was deemed impossible before. The innovation that was experienced among the machines had improved greatly during this period. 1970s is the period that the “Standard Model” (Carroll, 2012) which was a pillar stone on the Higgs boson discovery. The model helped in the description of the elementary particles like the gluons, quarks and neutrinos. Carroll (2012) describes matter to be made of small particles that are known as atoms. Atoms are not divisible and consist of nucleuses that are made of neurons and protons. The neurons and protons are indivisible and orbited by a number of electrons. The neurons and protons are made of smaller particles that are called quarks. Quarks and electrons are referred to as elementary particles. The atomic nucleus neurons and protons are made of ‘up’ and ‘down’ quarks. Every single piece of matter is therefore made up of up quarks, down quarks and electrons. Matter particles are of twelve distinct kinds broadly divided into six quarks and six leptons. The six quarks interact closely and are confined in larger groups like neutrons and protons. The six leptons are capable of travelling through space individually. The standard model of physics is based on “twelve matter particles plus a group of force carrying particles to hold them together” (Carroll, 2012). The standard model does not explain all the things that exist in and outside the universe. It does not explain things like dark energy and dark matter that are in space. According to Carroll (2012) Large Hadron Collider is “the largest, most complex machine ever built by human beings, and it came in at a cool nine billion dollars.” The LHC was built as a product of another unsuccessful attempt of discovering Higgs boson. The early part of 1980s was characterized by United States of America building Superconducting Super Conductor (SSC). SSC was a huge particle accelerator that caused the tax payers a lot of money. The machine development was supported by a majority of the congressmen during the early stages. The congressmen were governed by self-interest, hoping that the machine was to be built in their state. The interest was due to the value of the investment that was estimated to cause approximately US$ 4.4 billion. Putting such an investment into a state meant that there would be an increase in employment in the state and prestige. The eventual home of the SCC was Waxahachie near Dallas in Texas. It, therefore, meant that the other US congressmen had lost in the bid to bring the machine home. The product was 49 state delegations out of 50 dropping the SSC interest. The SSC project was politicized and became a major topic in the media sector. The conflict could be seen in a radio interview between SCC defender (Nobel Laureate) Steven Weinberg and an opposing congressman. Steven Weinberg in reaction to the opposing congressman said that, “I explained that the collider was going to help us learn the laws of nature and asked if that didnt deserve a high priority," Weinberg recalls. "I remember every word of his answer. It was No."(Carroll, 2012) The book uses lucid descriptions and human story to show that the Higgs’ search developed to be a societal issue. According to Carroll (2012), Higgs is not a mere narration of esoteric ideas and subatomic particles. It was characterized by tales of jealousy, politics and money. The political conflicts led to the cancellation of the SSC project. Europe decided to take over the burden of developing the modern collider that physicists needed most. The Large Hadron Collider was, therefore, built at the Cern laboratories, near Geneva. The Collider began its operations in the year 2009 which the scientists are continuing their search for the Higgs boson. The Large Hadron Collider was used by the scientists through the smashing of the proton beams against each other. The aim of the smashing was to find the sub- atomic substances in the debris. The continued search in a duration of three years led to the identification of the Higgs boson. The main importance of Higgs boson is that the particle gives mass to objects or matter in general. The first scientists to propose the Higgs boson existence were a Briton, Peter Higgs and Belgian Francois Englert. The two physicists were honored in their work by being given the 2013 physics Noble prize. The Large Hadron Collider is estimated to have a lifespan of 20 years under which it will be used to further inventions and innovations. Carroll (2012) admits that the machine is not in a position to bring large industrial returns or wealth to the investors. He argues that machines like the Large Hadron Collider are built with the intention to uncover the cosmos building blocks. In support of the project, he says, "Basic science might not lead to immediate improvements in national defense or a cure for cancer but it enriches our lives by teaching us something about the universe of which were are a part…That should be a very high priority indeed." (Carroll, 2012) The Large Hadron Collider functions through the use of superconducting magnets. The superconducting magnets are used to accelerate the protons that are travelling in opposite directions. The magnets make the protons move in a speed that is almost equal to that of light. The collision between the particles gives amount of energy that is later used in the creation of Higgs particles. The particle rapidly decays hence revealing the traces of more recognized particles. According to Carroll (2012), the days when individual scientists like Carl Anderson building a cloud chamber inventing something is now over. He advocates the use of vivid descriptive languages and diagrams in conducting scientific studies. He uses similar tools in the issuing an explanation the universe processes at the subatomic levels. Carroll (2012) argues that focus should be laid on the information learnt from the project and not capital gained. In reference to this point he said that the project was worth investing in. The billions of Euros that was used in the project gave a significant breakthrough in the particle physics field. The investment has made the public know that atomic particles are of two varieties. The first one is fermions while the second one is bosons. The bosons carry forces while the fermions are what make up matter. Bosons include the photons, gluons, the Higgs and the gravitons that cause gravity. The fermions include the leptons like quarks and electrons. The quarks can be categorized into six categories; up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom. The investment also helped in the findings in relation to field forces, wave functions and symmetry. According to Carroll (2012), Higgs particle is the filling puzzle in the particle physics fields. He also admits that even though the Large Hadron Collider has been successful, there is a need for a better one. A view that he views to be a mere dream since a better collider construction will not gain support from the politicians. The Inspirations The book has several inspirations for the day to day life of human beings in their endeavors. It is a proof that when humans insist on thinking and putting the thoughts into practice, nothing is impossible. There are no mountains that are too steep or too high to climb when one is dedicated. The discovery process took a long period of time, but the physicists never lost hope in making the dream true. The book inspires by showing that inventions and other achievements are step to step processes. They are supposed to be started at the lowest point possible and then improved to the complex scenario expected (Carroll, 2012). The book point out that criticism is a positive thing in human activities. According to Carroll (2012), “You don’t become a famous physicist by showing that someone else’s theory is right, you become famous by showing where someone else’s theory goes wrong, or by proposing a better theory.” It also shows that research is not about creation of totally new ideas but working on the already present to get the optimum result. The importance of discovering the Higgs boson might not be seen now, but its applicability will ensure that most of human problems are solved. The concept is similar to the case of Einstein’s space and time theory, application to global positioning system (GPS). The book is inspirational in the sense by which it links children, curiosity to the Higgs discovery. Carroll (2012) gives his explanation in relation to children, thus depicting them as intelligent people in the society. According to Carroll (2012) “When you’re six years old, everyone asks these questions. Why is the sky blue? Why do things fall down? Why are some things hot and others cold? How does it all work?” There is a need for people to concentrate on the simple things on the day to day life since they are the most important factors. Paying attention to the children in the society is therefore important as it jogs your mind and makes one think critically. The book also inspires through assuring that all the opportunities are worth venturing in. It makes one understand that a project cannot go to a complete failure, but can bring a new success that was never targeted. An example for this case is the development of Tevatron at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory with the aim to discover Higgs. Even though it did not discover Higgs, it discovered the top quark thus taking the scientists a notch higher in the quest for Higgs discovery (Carroll, 2012). Discoveries are important elements in our day to day lives with every discovery leading to another. Discoveries should not be treated as an end of the research work, but rather a beginning. For instance, Higgs can interact naturally with particles that are not yet discovered. Through the discovery of the Higgs, we are able to learn and discover the unknown particles (Carroll, 2012). In conclusion, Sean Carroll’s book is an explanation of the Higgs discovery. Carroll, a particulate- physicist, shows why Higgs boson is a milestone achieved in the particulate science field. He narrates the story behind the discovery of the Higgs boson and the influencing factors that were behind the scene. He elaborates on how curiosity enabled the discovery of the Higgs boson. The book issues the full description of matter and how the construction of the Large Hadron Collider has contributed to the study of matter. The book also gives elaborates the several attempts that were made before the development of the Large Hadron Collider. In relation to the attempts, it gives the success and failures and the reasons to why they failed. The book uses lucid descriptions and human story to explain the significance of Higgs’ discovery. Carroll has issues the idea in relation to how the Large Hadron Collider can be used to help and what it cannot do. He gives the brief description of how the machine functions. He also elaborates on the importance of Large Hadron Collider through the issuance of cost- benefit analysis. The book has several inspiration concepts within it. The first one is that nothing is impossible when one is determined. It also shows that criticism should be taken positively since it makes good results out of projects. The book also shows that the simple things that we ignore in our day to day lives can be of much importance. It also shows that no efforts normally go unrewarded; they might fail to meet their targets, but make one closer to the target. Reference Carroll, S. M. (2012). The particle at the end of the universe: How the hunt for the Higgs boson leads us to the edge of a new world. New York, NY: Dutton. Read More