Synopses & Reviews
From 1960 until 1990 theoretical physicists and experimentalists worked together to probe deeper and deeper into the basic structure of matter, moving closer to an understanding of the ultimate building blocks of the universe. Gerard 't Hooft was closely involved in many of the advances in modern theoretical physics that led to improved understanding of elementary particles, and this is a first-hand account of one of the most creative and exciting periods of discovery in the history of physics. Using language a layperson can understand, this narrative touches on many central topics and ideas, such as quarks and quantum physics; supergravity, superstrings and superconductivity; the Standard Model and grand unification; eleven-dimensional space time and black holes.
This fascinating personal account of the past thirty years in one of the most dramatic areas in twentieth-century physics will be of interest to professional physicists and physics students, as well as the educated general reader with an interest in one of the most exciting scientific detective stories ever.
Review
"Gerard t'Hooft has made outstanding contributions in theoretical particle physics, and if this attempt to explain his subject to a lay audience is a guide, he could become an excellent populariser, too....With analogies and anecdotes, t'Hooft skillfully enters the world of particles....the reader is now invited to enjoy t'Hooft's first-hand account of the great revolution in gauge theories in which he played such a singular role, culminating in his personal thoughts on string theory, black holes, and more." Frank Close
Review
"As a comprehensive and compact review of the taxonomy of the particle world, it should come in handy for physicists of other disciplines who are a little rusty on their particle physics....[T]he book is liveliest as a story of the fate of the ideas generated by the atom-smashing community...the story is told with a confidence that comes only from deep understanding." Tania Monteiro, New Scientist
Synopsis
First-hand 'popular physics' book by very famous theoretical physicist.
Synopsis
This is a first-hand account of one of the most creative and exciting periods of discovery in the history of physics. From 1960 until 1990 theoreticians and experimentalists worked together to probe deeper and deeper into the basic structure of reality, moving closer and closer to an understanding of the ultimate building blocks from which everything in the Universe is made. Gerard ât Hooft worked in the field throughout this period of almost unprecedented discovery, and was closely involved in many of the advances in the development of the subject. In this book he gives a personal account of the process by which physicists came to understand the structure of matter.
Synopsis
This is a first-hand account of one of the most exciting and creative periods of discovery in twentieth century physics. The author gives a personal account of the development and evolution over thirty years of what is now known as the Standard Theory, the theory that describes and explains the basic building blocks from which everything in the Universe is constructed.
Table of Contents
An apology; 1. The beginning of the journey to the small: cutting paper; 2. To molecules and atoms; 3. The magic mystery of the quanta; 4. Dazzling velocities; 5. The elementary particle zoo before 1970; 6. Life and death; 7. The crazy kaons; 8. The invisible quarks; 9. Fields or bootstraps?; 10. The Yang-Mills bonanza; 11. Superconducting empty space: the Higgs-Kibble machine; 12. Models; 13. Colouring in the strong forces; 14. The magnetic monopole; 15. Gypsy; 16. The brilliance of the standard model; 17. Anomalies; 18. Deceptive perfection; 19. Weighing neutrinos; 20. The great desert; 21. Technicolor; 22. Grand unification; 23. Supergravity; 24. Eleven dimensional space-time; 25. Attaching the super string; 26. Into the black hole; 27. Theories that do not yet exist ... ; 28. Dominance of the rule of the smallest.