BOOK REVIEW

Beyond the God Particle Reviewed by Roger D. Launius

Beyond the God Particle by Leon Lederman CERN’s efforts to discover the Higgs boson, and Christopher Hill. Amherst, NY: Pro- the importance of the boson in the cosmos, metheus Books, 2013. 325 pages (acknowl- and offer a path forward for particle physics. edgments, appendix, notes, index). $24.95 This is not easy reading, however, Lederman USD, ISBN: 978-1-61614-801-0 (hardcover and Hill do not hold back in terms of theo- with dust jacket). retical formulation, mathematical equations, and obtuse explanations. The authors wax It was hard to miss the story about finding eloquent about such little-known constructs the so-called “God Particle” when it broke as “the lowly muon,” explained as an elemen- European efforts at CERN and LHC. Leder- on July 4, 2012. On that date scientists at the tary particle that presuggested that the Higgs man and Hill believe that the decisions on this Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, boson must exist. effort will be made not later than 2017 and Switzerland, announced that they had found They then explain how mass—explained indeed must be taken by then or the U.S. will the long sought after Higgs boson. Less than as the amount of matter and not its weight— fall so far behind in physics that it may not be a year later, on March 14, 2013, physicists arose as the Higgs boson created a field to fill able to recover in the first half of this century. at the European Organization for Nuclear up the vacuum of the universe with a constant While Beyond the God Particle is a chatty Research, known as CERN, confirmed this but exceptionally weak charge. Theorized for book, replete with anecdotes and reasonably discovery. several years, these ideas drove the construc- understandable explanations, its merger of Presumably the Higgs boson subatomic tion of the Large Hadron Collider and the theoretical physics with the story of the Higgs particle is ubiquitous in the universe, form- use of this instrument—the most powerful boson discovery is less than seamless and ing a field that connects everything to every- and most expensive particle accelerator ever sometimes awkward. Moreover, the authors’ thing. Hence the name that has been given built—immediately paid off with the discov- discussion of American politics is less than to the Higgs boson, the “God Particle.” It ery of the Higgs boson. evocative. They bash the nation’s political is the central element of all the elementary Lederman and Hill go on to highlight leadership for failure to pursue physics with particles that provide the building blocks of several new questions, the answers to which the passion they believe exists in Europe. the universe regardless of type or substance they are convinced will revolutionize physics They lambast what they think of as the or longevity. So what does all of this mean? in the twenty-first century. These questions less than scientifically-literate public. They That, of course, is the subject of this book. include: Why were scientists convinced that bemoan a political landscape that fails to In an earlier book titled The God Par- something like the “God Particle” had to appreciate the pursuit of science, which they ticle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is exist? Why is so much of the matter in the contend is not just about the quest for knowl- the Question? (1993) Nobel Laureate Leon cosmos “dark” and invisible to us? How will edge but also is critical to the quest for new Lederman with Dick Teresi discussed the the discovery of the Higgs boson affect cur- marketable technologies. Those discussions search for this connecting particle or par- rent models of reality like string theory and are both overly simplistic and fail to appreci- ticles, exploring the theoretical reasoning supersymmetry? These intriguing questions, ate the rigors of formulation of science policy and experimentation that had been completed and others like them, will fuel scientific re- in the United States. Lederman and Hill write by 1993 to understand this baffling scientific search for years to come. off this situation as so much political myopia, problem. Also, in this book Lederman un- I was especially intrigued to a pet project a sophomoric analysis if ever there was one. apologetically labeled the Higgs boson the of both Lederman and Hill. The Fermi Na- Regardless, Beyond the God Particle “God Particle” solely for marketing purposes. tional Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), is a quite useful, engaging, and potentially Twenty years later, Lederman, this time with located just outside Batavia, Illinois, has important discussion. It brings to the center coauthor Christopher Hill, note that the quest proposed a new instrument, called Project X, of the current scientific enterprise the nature for the Higgs boson was half the fun, but the that would enable the study of rare decays, of the Higgs boson and its place in directing recent findings at LHC and CERN opens as neutrino physics, potential muon storage future efforts in physics. many questions as they answer. rings, and the possibility of new sorts of This new book, Beyond the God Particle, fission reaction. This is a fascinating devel- Roger D. Launius is Associate Director emphasizes what we now know about the opment, and the authors are unabashed in for Collections and Curatorial Affairs at physics of the Higgs field, explaining at their support for this project not only for its the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air length what particle physicists are presently scientific potential but also because of the and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. He doing, how they are accomplishing it, and need for the United States to recover from the is a Fellow of the American Astronautical why this effort is necessary for the future. The knowledge losses suffered by the cancellation Society and a former officer of the society. authors do a fine job of narrating LHC’s and of the Super-colliding Super Collider and the

16 SPACE TIMES • March/April 2014