Wow! What an incredible book. This is definitely a book that you would want for your personal library. Even the endnotes are worthwhile to read. For example, the genesis of the name "boson" is derived from the name of an Indian physicist--Satyendra Nath Bose (boson). This book exhausts everything one would want to know about the Higgs Boson field and particle, also referred to as the 'God Particle' which is the name of a similar book published by Leon Lederman who wanted to use the name 'The Goddamned Particle,' a name that Peter Higgs (originator of the theory) was worried about given the sensitivity between the media, science, and a possible backlash in the public square--including funding for particle accelerators by government officials who may be put off by such terms which can be taken as atheistic even though it is probably a term of frustration. (Incidentally, there is a quote in another book stating that Lederman protested the name purely for atheistic reasons, which may or may not be true). All of the information in this comment/review is included in the book. A couple of prerequisites are in order.
The Higgs boson is allegedly the final particle missing from the "Standard Model," which is the model of particle physics and a theory concerning the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions, which mediate the dynamics of the known subatomic particles. It was developed in the early and mid-20th century and to the present upon confirmation of the existence of quarks, discovery of the bottom quark, the top quark and the tau neutrino. It is NOT a theory of everything--even if the Higgs boson is discovered. To date the Standard model includes 24 fundamental building blocks of nature and the Higgs boson is the only one missing (assuming one believes the particle exists--another issue in the book).
The second prerequisite before unpacking the Higgs mechanism is highlighting the importance of the fundamental forces as they relate to the Higgs mechanism. Of special import is the unification, by Steve Weinberg, of the electromagnetic force and the weak force into the `electroweak force' which, according to Massive, existed in the early universe as it expanded and cooled until pulling apart and creating two of the four fundamental forces named above. Moreover, this is built around the Higgs mechanism as Weinberg argues that it is the Higgs field that is responsible for pulling the electromagnetic and weak forces apart. The Higgs field splits the electroweak force in two by making the two W and the Z particles "heavy" while leaving photons massless and weightless. (As a side note, Weinberg's theory predicted 3 new kinds of particles named two W (for "weak") particles and one Z (which has no electrical charge) boson particle.
Massive is about the Higgs mechanism (Higgs field and Higgs boson) that allegedly give rise to the mass of all the elementary particles (or most particles) in the Standard Model. That is to say, the primary thesis of the book is to unpack the nature and purpose of the Higgs mechanism, and the remaining chapters about all of collaterally related issues stemming from the theory, including possibilities for physics if the Higgs particle is located. The Higgs mechanism is summarized and unpacked many times throughout the book, which makes it easy to compare the content of subsequent chapters with the initial theory.
What is the initial theory behind the Higgs boson? Peter Higgs read a paper regarding the Higgs mechanism through reviewing different papers that posited the idea that particle masses may be the result of broken symmetry. The first was written by physicist Yoichiro Nambu who wrote an article on how elementary particles acquire their mass, and Nambu toyed with the idea of broken symmetry creating massless particles. However, Nambu's worked did do much aside from planning a seed in Peter Higgs regarding broken symmetry, although Nambu did win the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on broken symmetry (and the book has a fantastic breakdown of symmetry, the types of symmetry and supersymmetry). Regarding Nambu's idea of providing mass to particles via broken symmetry failed for the reason that it created massless particles during the symmetry-breaking phase for reasons that go beyond the scope of this review. However, this put Higgs on the right track with his idea. In short, Higgs figured out the flaw in Nambu's paper.
A brief outline of Higgs theory is on page 8 of the book, which states in relevant part that in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, the elementary particles were entirely massless. In a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, an energy field that permeated the universe switched on (the location of the Higgs field is somewhat mysterious as it is hidden in the vacuum of space and it is difficult to see because it does not vary from place to place, unlike gravity). Massless particles that had been zipping around at near the speed of light [(c)} were caught in the field and became massive; hence, the title--Massive. The more strongly they felt the effects of the field, the more massive they became. This is the simplicity of the Higgs mechanism is beautifully portrayed in this first introduction. The energy field represents the Higgs field. In quantum field theory, the force carrying particle for the Higgs field is a particle named the Higgs boson. The particles that did not have mass gained mass once they interacted with the Higgs field, and the heavier particles are the ones that felt the Higgs field more than other particles--all of which is unpacked in later chapters.
The book is fantastic in that it lays out the overwhelming effect the Higgs mechanism has had on particle physics and other areas. There are 11 chapters, which are as follows:
Chapter 1 - Long Road to Princeton
Chapter 2 - Shadow of the Bomb
Chapter 3 - Seventy-Nine Lines
Chapter 4 - The Enchanted Prince
Chapter 5 - An Earnest Revenge
Chapter 6 - Reagan's Renegade
Chapter 7 - Massive Maggie
Chapter 8 - The End Is Not Nigh
Chapter 9 - The Gordian Knot
Chapter 10 - Chasing the Wind
Chapter 11 - Hidden World
Remember that you are going to obtain information, laid out in simple fashion, that makes this book an incredible read. Chapter 1 lays out a general overview that sets the stage for the remainder of the book. Chapter 2 deals with electromagnetic waves, the story of the ether, field theory, and classical theories leading up to quanta, and then leading up to an explanation of quantum mechanics versus quantum physics. The chapter unpacks Einstein to Bohr (or GTR to QM) until we get to the dropping of the bombs on Japan and descriptions thereof, including reactions from the scientists. The descriptions of the classical and quantum are read with relative ease and they are captivating.
Chapter 3 is directly on the issues and physics surrounding Higgs mechanism, and the 79-lines represent Higgs theory and is specifically about a paper that unpacks a flaw in a physicist named Wally Gilbert, whose argument would have undermine Higgs theory. The 79-line paper corrected this issue and vindicates Higgs theory about particles and mass. Chapter 4 is about three different groups of men trying to obtain the secret to the Higgs boson, and also presents alternate views that explain the behavior of particles in the context of the origin of mass, but by utilizing what are called S-matrixes. It is here that we get Steve Weinberg's unification of the electroweak force and an introduction to a host of many issues in quantum mechanics and particle physics. Chapter 5 shows how the Higgs ultimately leads to the creation of CERN and Fermilab, and the race between the two laboratories to try and locate the infamous particle. This theme is revisited later throughout the book. Chapter 6 deals with the problem of governmental support for science, and the Fermilab in general. Again, however, this is written in a prose that never bores the reader. Chapter 7 follows chapter 6 in that money is a difficult commodity for science that seems obscure to the government and the public square in general. There are stories of vandalism and explosions at CERN and Fermilab, and a fantastic unpacking of Guth's inflationary view and an endnote/book that argues for the possibility of the Higgs mechanism being the basis for inflation.
Chapter 8 is the doomsday chapter that lays out numerous concerns about the creation of black holes and other particles/scenarios that could possibly destroy the earth as a result of particle collisions. This is a fascinating chapter and the remaining chapters and their respective content I will leave to the reader. The point is that, contrary to your background knowledge in physics, quantum physics, and Lederman's "the God Particle," you cannot pass this book by as there are too many concepts that one does not normally locate in such an easy and eloquent manner. Buy this book for your library. Pull out your highlighters and pens as you will not be able to put this book down.
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