Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Lisa Randall (Author)

Book Description

On July 4th, 2012, one of physics' most exhilarating results was announced: an entirely new kind of particle had been discovered at the Large Hadron Collider. The particle—a Higgs boson—is the key to verifying and understanding the Higgs mechanism that underlies elementary particle masses. Harvard University Professor Lisa Randall, one of the world's most cited and influential theoretical physicists, and author of the bestselling Knocking on Heaven's Door and Warped Passages, deftly explains both this epochal discovery and it's startlingly beautiful implications.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Talk about fireworks. On July 4, 2012, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider--the famed European particle accelerator and Earth's biggest and most powerful machine --announced the discovery of evidence confirming the existence of the Higgs boson. This long-theorized fundamental particle has represented the Holy Grail for physicists exploring the world of the very, very small for almost 50 years, and its discovery paves the way forward for our understanding of a range of questions about the physical universe, from why matter has (is) mass to what exactly happens in "empty" space. And who better to clarify the implications of this enormous discovery than Lisa Randall? Author of two popular books on cutting-edge physics and a celebrated theorist herself, Randall passionately guides those of us without the scientific background through the meaning, the implications, and the ensuing global enthusiasm. For those who have followed the elusive search for the Higgs, Randall's near-breathless gusto will only confirm our own. Newcomers may find the scientific vocabulary daunting, but set against the enormity of thought and effort put into this research by some of the world's smartest people, the challenge nevertheless rewards curious readers who wonder about the hype powering the headlines. --Jason Kirk

From AudioFile

Product Details

• File Size: 359 KB
• Print Length: 79 pages
• Publisher: Ecco (July 24, 2012)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008LUYZFM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,842 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > The Sciences
  • #5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics
  • #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Essays & Ideas

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intellectual and Timely Appetizer July 28, 2012

By J. Gomez TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space by Lisa Randall

"Higgs Discovery" this timely and topical Kindle Single, is written to enlighten the public to what the discovery of the Higgs boson means and to explain where it will take us. Influential and highly acclaimed theoretical physicist and best-selling author of "Knocking on Heaven's Door", Lisa Randall, gives the reader an intellectual appetizer on the implications of the announcement that a key particle, the Higgs boson was discovered. Randall's expertise and ability to convey such a complex topic to the layperson is what makes this Kindle Single such a great value. This 83-page book is composed of three sections: Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space, An Excerpt from Warped Passages and An Excerpt from Knocking on Heaven's Door.

Positives:
1. A timely and fascinating topic, written at an accessible level for the layperson and everyone in between.
2. Randall's expertise in the field and background as an educator provides the perfect mix to reach out and educate the public.
3. A great Kindle Single value. A great Amazon idea that is now benefitting authors and readers alike. In merely 83 pages, the author provides much needed information on what has become a pop-scientific topic.
4. What the Higgs boson is. Finally, I get it, I think.
5. The implications of the discovery.
6. As a true scientist and educator, Randall keeps the discovery in perspective. That is, in science everything is a matter of degrees of certainty.
7. Not to be confused with the Higgs boson but also insight into what the Higgs mechanism is and its implications.
8. Understanding what empty space really is.
9. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)...what makes it a remarkable machine and its future use....
10. Debunking myths...faster than light neutrinos.
11. Understanding scalar particles.
12. The importance of the supersymmetric model.
13. Really does a good job of capturing the essence of what these discoveries entail.
14. The additional excerpts really help the readers gain a better understanding.
15. In order not to overwhelm the general public, Randall focuses on a number of key concepts and processes which helps move the narration along.
16. The Standard Model of particles and what the Higgs mechanism provides.
17. Spontaneous breaking of symmetry...and when it occurs.
18. The hierarchy problem of particle physics.

Negatives:
1. The topic can be daunting at times. This is a complex topic and despite Randall's ability to relay the basic concepts to the public it will test your resolve to comprehend.
2. The Kindle version loses something in translation. Some of the links did not function.
3. One of the problems of inserting excerpts of previous books is that some of the references to other chapters of those books do not translate over to this book.
4. There are a limited amount of charts. Such complex topics warrants more visual aid.
5. A recommendation for the general audience, you will be better served by reading the excerpts first before the Higgs Discovery section.
6. In many respects, there remains more questions than answers. "The Higgs boson, even if it is the Higgs boson, is almost certainly not the only particle yet to be discovered.".

In summary, this Kindle Single quenched my thirst for understanding the Higgs boson. This is a very complex topic but I'm glad that such an accomplished particle theorist like Lisa Randall took on the role to educate the public and even happier that it was done in a timely manner. That being said, the book can be daunting at times. It may take multiple readings or better yet I suggest you read the excerpts first and finalize with the meat of this brief book. If you are interested in becoming familiar with this pop-science topic, at this price and brevity you have nothing to lose. I highly recommend this book with the reservations noted.

Further suggestions: "Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World" and "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" by Lisa Randall, "A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss, "The Quantum Universe (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does)", "Wonders of the Universe" and "Why Does E=mc2? (And Why Should We Care?)" by Brian Cox, "For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics" by Walter Lewin, "Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100" by Michio Kaku, "The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene, "The Grand Design" by Stephen Hawking and "The 4 Percent Universe" by Richard Panek. Read more ›

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Brief Summary and Review August 4, 2012

By The Book Reporter

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Randal's book consists of 3 chapters. The first chapter details Randall's reaction to the discovery of the Higgs boson, as well as some general information about the particle and what it implies about the physical laws of the universe, and the future direction of this understanding now that the discovery has been made. The two remaining chapters are taken from Randall's previous books, and are meant to provide additional context around the Higgs boson and what it entails, as well as why scientists were expecting to find it.

Beginning with the basics, we learn that the Higgs boson is an elementary particle--a fundamental constituent of matter out of which all things are made (there are 3 types of elementary particles: quarks, leptons and bosons, and the Higgs is a variety of boson). The Higgs particle was created by way of smashing protons together at very high speeds in the LHC. The reason it took so long to identify the Higgs is because many elementary particles are produced when protons are smashed together (and the Higgs is produced only very rarely in these collisions), and differentiating between the various particles requires analyzing the results over numerous trials (to ensure that random noise is not adulterating the data).

The discovery of the new fundamental particle was significant in its own right, of course, but the real reason why finding the Higgs was so important is because the particle has peculiar qualities that implies the existence of a charged field that pervades space. This field is known as the Higgs field, and in order to see why it is so important we will have to make a brief detour into the Standard Model of particle physics....

The Standard Model is a theory that postulates the 3 types of elementary particles mentioned above, as well as 4 fundamental forces: gravity, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. While the Standard Model has an enormous body of evidence in its favor, the full theory postulates a mechanism that had yet to be verified empirically--until now that is. That mechanism is none other than the Higgs field, and, as mentioned, the discovery of the Higgs boson gave empirical evidence that this field does in fact exist.

The Higgs field is particularly important in the Standard Model because it is responsible for lending mass to the elementary particles (by way of offering resistance to their free movement), and is a pivotal piece in the puzzle of explaining why these particles behave as they do. Without it the Standard Model simply does not work. The special importance of the Higgs field, and its ubiquity in nature, hints at why the Higgs boson has acquired its provocative moniker: the God particle--though Randall largely downplays the particle's grand title in her work.

Randall's work is well-geared to a general audience; however, it does presuppose some basic knowledge of the Standard Model and its elementary particles and forces, and how they interact. Also, because the work pieces together a chapter of fresh observations with chapters from previous books, it can seem somewhat disjointed at times. For those looking for a more thorough account of the discovery of the Higgs boson, and also a ground-up explanation of the physics that makes sense of the particle, I would highly recommend Jim Baggot's new book called Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the 'God Particle'. An executive summary of this book is now available at newbooksinbrief dot com. Read more ›

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great perspective from an expert July 28, 2012

By Bob Flisser

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having a thorough understanding of a complex subject is a different skill than being able to present it to a wide audience. Professor Lisa Randall does both very well, and this book is another reason she is one of my favorite science authors (along with Sean Carroll, Phil Plait, Freeman Dyson, Michio Kaku, and Brian Greene).

Coming only three weeks after CERN confirmed the probable discovery of the Higgs boson, this book explains why the story was important enough to vault from obscure physics to late-night TV. But Randall takes us beyond the headlines, and describes what the Large Hadron Collider will do with the Higgs, and what it could mean for exciting discoveries beyond the Standard Model.

If you don't already have some background in particle physics, this book might seem a little daunting. (Read the first few chapters of her book, "Warped Passages".) But you don't need a PhD to read this, either. It's meant for a general audience with an interest in science.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Takes Energy to Read August 17, 2012

By Kendra Lacy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I took Differential Equations in college, I knew I had made a mistake, not in taking the class, but in waiting so long to take it. The last math class I had taken was either Calc. III or Linear Algebra and it had been two years of nothing math related since. I was an English major. But I was an English major who loved the language of math, a language I had lost from lack of use.

Apparently, I haven't been reading enough physics books lately, because I've lost that language too. I agree with another reviewer that the average layman or laywoman can't read this book and come out with any understanding of the Higgs Boson. I don't blame Lisa Randall for that. I'm just not her target audience.

But what I did take from this short little nugget of physics is that physicists and poets have a lot in common. They see the world in different ways than the rest of us. But both see beauty in unique and fascinating ways.

More About the Author

Lisa Randall is Professor of Physics at Harvard University. She is one of today's most influential and highly cited theoretical physicists, and has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions. Her work has been featured in Time magazine, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vogue, the Economist, Scientific American, and elsewhere. Randall is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Physical Society, and is the recipient of several honorary degrees. When not solving the problems of the universe, she can be found rock climbing, skiing, or contributing to art-science connections. Hypermusic Prologue, a small opera for which she wrote the libretto, premiered in the Pompidou Center in 2009, and Measure for Measure, an art exhibit she co-curated, opened in Los Angeles in 2010.