Particle Physics in the Cosmos (Readings from Scientific American Magazine) (Paperback)

~ Jr. Richard A. Carrigan (Editor), W. Peter Trower (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A collection of essays by the world's foremost scientists discusses dark matter, the beginnings of the universe, elementary particles and their relation to the cosmos, and matter versus antimatter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman (February 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716719193
• ISBN-13: 978-0716719199
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,982,960 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to field theory., June 22, 2005

By	Mark Lawrence "QuantumTime.Com" (People's Republic of California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We have been taught by Bill Gates and Gordon Moore that newer=better. It's not always true.

This book includes several atricles from Scientific American in the '80s. One of those articles, "Gauge Theories" by nobel laureate Gerard t'Hooft is worth the price of this book all by itself, especially if you get a used copy. This article explains better than any other I've ever seen how quarks and electrons work.

Theoretical Physics has two schools of thought, called "the Standard Model" and "String Theory." While string theory has caught the imagination of the public, in 25 years of research no connection between string theory and experiements in our universe has been made. The standard model is what we have that works. t'Hooft won his nobel prize for showing that electro-weak theory is renormalizable, using his new renormalization technique 'dimensional regularization.' There is no one alive better qualified to explain the standard model, and only a couple equally qualified. His article is, imho, must reading for anyone who wants to understand quarks and leptons at any non-trivial level.

The book also includes several other articles by several other authors.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I returned it!, May 18, 1999

By	Wayne G. Dengel, Sr. ([e-mail]) (Sarasota, FL, a bit of Paradise!) - See all my reviews

Material is too old. (That said, I can't imagine that Amazon.com will publish this review.) When it comes to particle physics, Leon Lederman, one of the contributors, not that he had anything to say about it!, an article of his first published in the 70s!, is one of the most outstanding authors of our time. However,Scientific American is not doing the public much good with such old material. They first published this book for $11.95. It seems that W. H. Freeman is trying to cash in on reprints vs current material. Don't waste your money on this one. Rather, take a look at book reviews in magazines like "Science". Good Hunting and Good Reading!

Wayne G. Dengel