Customer Reviews

The Elusive Neutrino: A Subatomic Detective Story (Scientific American Library)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is an entertaining account of the effort to understand the most minute and fundamental bits of nature. Thanks to its roots in lectures for the general public the book is readable and provides glimpses into the persons and personalities behind this never-ending effort.

One of the most fascinating themes explored and explained here is the connection between the infinitesimal (neutrino) and the almost infinite (universe). Spectacular photographs and concise drawings complement the well-written text.

The author is somewhat harsh on theorists in the first 150 pages although he mellows and restores some balance in the end. Students contemplating a pursuit of theoretical science are well-advised to either ignore the comments or read the whole book before they make up their mind.
J.M. Karanikas

This book is not only a collection of great pictures, entertaining captions, and interesting stories, it is also packed with information.

The history of modern physics is explained leading up to questions of nature that we have today. The neutrino is a small particle that will have great influence on the nature of things. We need to know more about it and in so doing we will learn about the world we live in. This book uses the neutrino as a cornerstone in explaining many modern physical concepts. - John J. Adams

I used this book as a reference for a paper on neutrinos and found it helpful for the historical development of neutrinos, but beyond that used other textbooks for more technical information.

A generous thank you goes out from myself goes out to Dr. Solomey's relatively short book about our search for the neutrino. As a fellow physicist myself I find his readings to be insightful enough to be appreciated by any reader and simple enough to be understood by someone outside of the particle physics community. The illustrations and the graphs add to the ease of reading without taking losing any professionalism or importance of material. Exceptional work, and I can't wait for his next book to come out.

I read the book because particle physics is a hobby of mine. The almost-coffee-table book is clear and reads well, if a bit too wordy. DO NOT be scared by this book's subject, it is a grade school tome compared to many mind-bending works on the market. The artwork is clean and concise. The scientific library series is always superb.