The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story (Scientific American Library)
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Book Description
For more than 60 years, researchers in particle physics have been pursuing the neutrino. Just developing the technology and the means to detect this subatomic particle took 20 years. Physicists continue to be tantalized by the question of its mass does the neutrino weigh anything and, if so, how much? and the unique characteristics of spin and symmetry that set this particle apart from others.
In The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story, physicist Nickolas Solomey takes his readers through the mind-bending world of particle physics, using research involving neutrinos as a navigational tool. Solomey's discussion spans the history of particle physics from the discovery of radioactivity to present day theoretical speculation about the mass and origin of elementary particles. He brings us into the laboratories where physicists are hunting down answers to such questions as: Is the neutrino its own anti-particle? Can neutrinos account for the missing matter of the universe? And he shows us how scientists are studying neutrinos for clues to the origin and (perhaps) the future of the universe. The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story takes us on a tour of this fascinating branch of physics a tour that's not only engaging, but enlightening. 165 illustrations
Card catalog description
In The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story, University of Chicago physicist Nickolas Solomey takes his readers through the mind-bending world of particle physics, using research involving neutrinos as a navigational tool. Solomey's discussion spans the history of particle physics from the discovery of radioactivity to present theoretical speculation about the mass and origin of elementary particles. He describes the scientific principles relevant to the neutrino search through the efforts of the scientists who discovered them, sharing their fears and triumphs and making The Elusive Neutrino a human story in addition to a scientific one. He also powerfully demonstrates the synergy of experiment and theory that drives modern science.
The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story (Scientific American Library),Nickolas Solomey,W.H. Freeman & Company,0716750805,Cosmology,History,Neutrinos,Nuclear Physics,Particle Physics,Particles (Nuclear physics),Physics,Science,Science/Mathematics
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