Christine Sutton – författare

During the 20th century, scientists discovered what the Universe is made of; as the 21st century begins, they are preparing experiments to find out how it came to be like this. This great adventure, which will involve a metaphorical journey back in time to within a billionth of a second of the Big Bang, is the latest stage in the quest to understand the nature of the matter that makes our Universe and the forces that govern it.The Particle Odyssey takes the reader on a spectacularly illustrated journey to the heart of matter. In clear, non-technical language the authors describe the key experiments and fundamental discoveries which have led to our current understanding of the origins and nature of the material universe.In this fascinating book, you will find individual ''portraits'' of all the major subatomic particles, from the electron to the top quark. The authors describe the history of experimental particle physics: its origins in the discovery of X-rays in 1895; the dissection of the atom by Rutherford and others; the unexpected revelations of the cosmic rays; the explosion of new particles in the 1950s and 60s; the discovery of quarks and the rise of the ''standard model'' in the last part of the 20thcentury. And they also look at the great challenges that face physicists today—where did antimatter go? what is dark matter? can there be a theory of everything?—and the experiments they are devising to explore them.The Particle Odyssey brings together and presents with style over 100 of the best images of particle ''events'': mysterious, abstract, beautiful pictures of the tracks of subatomic particles as they speed, curve, dance, or explode through cloud and bubble chambers, stacks of photographic emulsion, and the giant multi-element detectors of modern experiments. Here are spiralling electrons, the tell-tale ''vees'' of strange particles, matter and antimatter born from raw energy, energetic jetsof particles spraying out from the decay points of quarks and gluons. A further 250 pictures, many taken specially for this book, illustrate the laboratories, experiments, and personalities of over a century of particle physics.This superb book is a testament to the work of ''big'' science and one of the great detective stories of our age.

During the 20th century, scientists discovered what the Universe is made of; as the 21st century begins, they are preparing experiments to find out how it came to be like this. This great adventure, which will involve a metaphorical journey back in time to within a billionth of a second of the Big Bang, is the latest stage in the quest to understand the nature of the matter that makes our Universe and the forces that govern it.The Particle Odyssey takes the reader on a spectacularly illustrated journey to the heart of matter. In clear, non-technical language the authors describe the key experiments and fundamental discoveries which have led to our current understanding of the origins and nature of the material universe.In this fascinating book, you will find individual ''portraits'' of all the major subatomic particles, from the electron to the top quark. The authors describe the history of experimental particle physics: its origins in the discovery of X-rays in 1895; the dissection of the atom by Rutherford and others; the unexpected revelations of the cosmic rays; the explosion of new particles in the 1950s and 60s; the discovery of quarks and the rise of the ''standard model'' in the last part of the 20thcentury. And they also look at the great challenges that face physicists today—where did antimatter go? what is dark matter? can there be a theory of everything?—and the experiments they are devising to explore them.The Particle Odyssey brings together and presents with style over 100 of the best images of particle ''events'': mysterious, abstract, beautiful pictures of the tracks of subatomic particles as they speed, curve, dance, or explode through cloud and bubble chambers, stacks of photographic emulsion, and the giant multi-element detectors of modern experiments. Here are spiralling electrons, the tell-tale ''vees'' of strange particles, matter and antimatter born from raw energy, energetic jetsof particles spraying out from the decay points of quarks and gluons. A further 250 pictures, many taken specially for this book, illustrate the laboratories, experiments, and personalities of over a century of particle physics.This superb book is a testament to the work of ''big'' science and one of the great detective stories of our age.

Try to imagine a spaceship that could pass right through the Earth without even noticing it was there. And one that could cross the vastness of space at the speed of light, and then penetrate into the very heart of subatomic matter to seek out its fundamental structure. Imagine, then, a particle that is almost nothing that can tell you almost everything about the structure of matter and the evolution of the Universe. Impossible? In fact, all of these descriptions can be applied to the neutrino, a subatomic particle that is so elusive it is almost undetectable. Spaceship Neutrino charts the history of the neutrino, from its beginnings in the 1930s, when it was postulated as a way of explaining an otherwise intractable problem in physics, to its crucial role in modern theories of the Universe. Christine Sutton is well known for her popular science writing. In this book she describes how the detection and measurement of neutrino properties have tested technology to its limits, requiring huge detectors, often located deep in mines, under mountains or even under the sea. As part of the story she explains without the use of mathematics how our understanding of the structure of matter and the forces that hold it together have come from work with neutrinos, and how these insignificant particles hold the key to our understanding of the beginning and the end of the Universe. This fascinating, well-written and highly illustrated book will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in modern physics or astronomy, from school level right through to the professional scientist.