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A Zeptospace Odyssey: A Journey into the Physics of the LHC
This book provides a simple and understandable guide for appreciating the discoveries that are about to take place at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the world's largest particle accelerator. A CERN physicist leads the lay reader into the world of particle physics, from the astonishing technological innovations that were necessary to build the LHC, through the speculative theories invented to describe the ultimate laws governing the universe. The result is an extraordinary journey inside the fabric of matter, an exciting adventure inside a strange and bewildering space, through which one can appreciate the scale of the intellectual revolution that is about to happen. Does the mysterious Higgs boson exist? Does space hide supersymmetry or extend into extra dimensions? How can colliding protons at the LHC unlock the secrets of the origin of our universe? These questions are all framed and then addressed by an expert in the field. While making no compromises in accuracy, this cutting-edge material is presented in a friendly, accessible style. The book's aim is not just to inform, but to give the reader the physicist's sense of awe and excitement, as we stand on the brink of a new era in understanding the world in which we all live.
- GenresScienceNonfictionPhysics
284 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
6 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2015
Living in Geneva and having quite a few friends who work at CERN, I'd somehow never got around to reading a book about the LHC. I mean, they sell them at tourist shops here. I must know all that stuff, right? No: wrong, wrong, wrong! Luckily, a colleague at work had a copy of A Zeptospace Odyssey and said he was sure I'd enjoy it. He dropped it off on my desk when I was away, and it seemed plain rude to hand it back unread; it turned out to be both amusing and informative.
The book, written by a guy who's apparently worked at CERN for a large part of his career, is divided into three sections. The first gives you a brisk tour of the physics which forms the basis for the LHC. The second tells you about the LHC itself. The third (the book came out in 2010) describes the cool things they hoped to do once they'd got it properly running.
Of the three sections, I liked the second one best; the author appears to know a great deal about how the LHC was constructed, and gives you many picturesque details. I had heard that it was the most complicated machine ever built, but I hadn't appreciated quite what that meant. The most frightening part is the superconducting magnets. They weigh thirty tons each, this being the largest load that could feasibly be transported along European roads, and are engineered to incredibly tight tolerances. They operate just under the temperature where they would cease to be superconductive, and extreme care has to be taken to make sure that they don't "quench". I had not understood how powerful the particle beam is; despite the fact that it consists of only a few tens of billions of protons, almost nothing at all, its near-lightspeed velocity means it's got the energy of a 400-ton train. There are many nice pictures of the magnets, detectors and other complex machinery.
Despite being so new, the third section has a curiously dated feel. He's fairly confident that they will find the Higgs particle (there is a good explanation of what it is and why it's important), and then there are three or four chapters of euphoric speculation about what other goodies might turn up; he gives you plausible reasons to expect that the new energies the LHC can reach mean a decisive frontier has been crossed. As everyone knows, they did indeed find the Higgs, but apart from that, nothing. No supersymmetric particles, no dark matter, in short no evidence of any physics that fails to fit the Standard Model. But this is still a very nice account of how Big Science gets done. And who knows what might happen next?
_____________________________________
Something I couldn't help wondering about afterwards: in The Cosmic Landscape (2006, cited here), Susskind says it's now clear that supersymmetry can't be realized in our universe. He presents arguments from string theory, which I couldn't follow, to prove his point. But four years later, the people at CERN are still looking for supersymmetric particles.
Well, I guess experimentalists shouldn't believe everything theoreticians tell them but check for themselves. It was still a little odd that he never mentioned that supersymmetry was officially dead.
_____________________________________
Startling revelations this morning in Not's blog about the real nature of the LHC! For more details, see here.
The book, written by a guy who's apparently worked at CERN for a large part of his career, is divided into three sections. The first gives you a brisk tour of the physics which forms the basis for the LHC. The second tells you about the LHC itself. The third (the book came out in 2010) describes the cool things they hoped to do once they'd got it properly running.
Of the three sections, I liked the second one best; the author appears to know a great deal about how the LHC was constructed, and gives you many picturesque details. I had heard that it was the most complicated machine ever built, but I hadn't appreciated quite what that meant. The most frightening part is the superconducting magnets. They weigh thirty tons each, this being the largest load that could feasibly be transported along European roads, and are engineered to incredibly tight tolerances. They operate just under the temperature where they would cease to be superconductive, and extreme care has to be taken to make sure that they don't "quench". I had not understood how powerful the particle beam is; despite the fact that it consists of only a few tens of billions of protons, almost nothing at all, its near-lightspeed velocity means it's got the energy of a 400-ton train. There are many nice pictures of the magnets, detectors and other complex machinery.
Despite being so new, the third section has a curiously dated feel. He's fairly confident that they will find the Higgs particle (there is a good explanation of what it is and why it's important), and then there are three or four chapters of euphoric speculation about what other goodies might turn up; he gives you plausible reasons to expect that the new energies the LHC can reach mean a decisive frontier has been crossed. As everyone knows, they did indeed find the Higgs, but apart from that, nothing. No supersymmetric particles, no dark matter, in short no evidence of any physics that fails to fit the Standard Model. But this is still a very nice account of how Big Science gets done. And who knows what might happen next?
_____________________________________
Something I couldn't help wondering about afterwards: in The Cosmic Landscape (2006, cited here), Susskind says it's now clear that supersymmetry can't be realized in our universe. He presents arguments from string theory, which I couldn't follow, to prove his point. But four years later, the people at CERN are still looking for supersymmetric particles.
Well, I guess experimentalists shouldn't believe everything theoreticians tell them but check for themselves. It was still a little odd that he never mentioned that supersymmetry was officially dead.
_____________________________________
Startling revelations this morning in Not's blog about the real nature of the LHC! For more details, see here.
March 19, 2024
Grāmata no pirms Higgs boson ēras, no laikiem, kad tā vēl bija tikai teorētiska elementārdaļiņa. Autors pieturas pie uzskata, ka nevar stāstīt par tik nopietnām lietām pirms ir apgūti pamati un grāmatas pirmajā trešdaļā cenšas šos pamatus vismaz ieskicēt. Ja lasītas citas grāmatas par kvantu fiziku, tad tas visticamāk būs jau zināmu lietu atkārtojums, ja nav vēlu veiksmi kaut ko saprast.
Otrā grāmatas trešdaļa ir ar vislielāko pievienoto vērtību, jo te ir izklāstīti Lielā Hadronu paātrinātāja darbības pamatprincipi. Viss kā būvēts, un pats galvenais -detektoru uzbūve. Uzzināju daudz kā jauna.
Pēdējā trešdaļa veltīta iespējamajiem nākotnes atklājumiem un to var lasīt gan kā prognozi, gan kā iedvesmu zinātniskās fantastikas stāstam. 8 no 10 ballēm pluss par ilustrācijām.
Otrā grāmatas trešdaļa ir ar vislielāko pievienoto vērtību, jo te ir izklāstīti Lielā Hadronu paātrinātāja darbības pamatprincipi. Viss kā būvēts, un pats galvenais -detektoru uzbūve. Uzzināju daudz kā jauna.
Pēdējā trešdaļa veltīta iespējamajiem nākotnes atklājumiem un to var lasīt gan kā prognozi, gan kā iedvesmu zinātniskās fantastikas stāstam. 8 no 10 ballēm pluss par ilustrācijām.
February 4, 2021
Este libro habla un poco de la historia del LHC, de cómo se empezó con el descubrimiento de las primeras partículas subatómicas hasta que hemos llegado a este monstruo de microscopio. El libro está hecho en tres partes, la primera habla de la historia, la segunda del LHC en sí y la tercera de las cosas que se pretenden y no se pretenden, se buscan o no se buscan.
Hay que decir que está publicado antes del descubrimiento del bosón de Higgs, por lo que algunas cosas queden un pelo pasadas pero, realmente, la parte mejor son las dos primeras. La tercera es de las que yo califico como "idas de olla", porque habla de cosas que algunos físicos están a favor y otros en contra.
Por tanto, le pongo 4 estrellas por las dos primeras partes y no le pongo la quinta por la tercera parte.
Recomendado a gente con algo de formación, primero o segundo de carrera técnica o científica.
Hay que decir que está publicado antes del descubrimiento del bosón de Higgs, por lo que algunas cosas queden un pelo pasadas pero, realmente, la parte mejor son las dos primeras. La tercera es de las que yo califico como "idas de olla", porque habla de cosas que algunos físicos están a favor y otros en contra.
Por tanto, le pongo 4 estrellas por las dos primeras partes y no le pongo la quinta por la tercera parte.
Recomendado a gente con algo de formación, primero o segundo de carrera técnica o científica.
June 20, 2020
Un libro hermoso y complejo hecho por un científico que participó en la construcción del acelerador de partículas y explica desde el origen de la física cuántica, los avances de los descubrimientos de la ciencia moderna.
October 16, 2022
A Zeptospace Odyssey was published in January 2010 by Oxford University Press, which usually offers more advanced reading material for non-scientists. I would not recommend this as a first book about particle physics unless you are prepared to use supplemental material. In other words, this is not a light or casual read; one must work at this book in order to finish. Despite this, I enjoyed it and jotted down some of the interesting facts you will find in this book:
-The prefix 'zepto' is derived from the Latin 'septem' and the 's' was changed to a 'z' in order to avoid duplication of symbols, since the 'second' already uses 's' as an abbreviation. 'Zepto' is a relatively new prefix, as it was invented in 1991. A zeptometer is one billionth of a billionth of a millimeter. Or, it is one million times smaller than the diameter of a proton. We actually have the ability to probe this fantastically small space.
-Leibniz (a contemporary of Isaac Newton) called atoms 'monads'. (Philip K. Dick sometimes used the word 'monad' in his novels. Now I know where it came from.)
-Cathode rays were originally thought to be electromagnetic radiation, but photons do not have charge.
-The atom was first split in 1897 by J.J. Thomson, since a fragment (the electron) was observed. Electrons (not photons) were determined to be cathode rays.
-The ratio between the size of the solar system (out to Neptune) and the diameter of the Sun is 6,000:1. The ratio between the size of an atom and its nucleus is 20,000:1. Thus, there is more empty space (relatively speaking) inside atoms than inside our solar system.
-Leo Szilard first thought of liberating atomic energy, due to the fact that neutrons don't ionize matter.
-The weak nuclear force transforms particles, while the electromagnetic force does not transform them.
-Subatomic particles are nothing but localizations of quantum field energy. An electron is not really a particle, but a lump of energy in a quantum field.
-The slow disintegration of some hadrons led to the property of strangeness. Strangeness is a property of particles, like charge or mass. It refers to unusually slow decays.
-The W bosons mediate the 'charged current' weak interaction, in which neutrinos transform into electrons. The Z boson mediates the 'neutral current' weak interaction, in which neutrinos retain their identities.
-The discovery of neutral currents provided evidence for electroweak unification.
-Less than 1% of particle accelerators are used for science research. The majority are used in hospitals.
-X-rays lose most of their energy close to the skin surface, causing more damage to healthy cells than hadron-based treatments. (This makes sense. X-rays do not have mass, but hadrons do.)
-A bent proton beam emits ten thousand billion times less radiation than an electron beam.
-It takes 20 minutes for a proton beam to reach 7 TeV.
-A proton beam consists of 2,808 bunches of 100 billion protons per bunch. Each bunch is separated by 10 meters. 100 billion protons weighs about a ten-trillionth of a gram.
-The full power of the beam can melt a 1,000 pound block of solid copper.
-Two main detectors are called ATLAS and CMS. Each consists of 4 structures: 1. trackers 2. electromagnetic calorimeters 3. hadron calorimeters 4. muon chambers
-One million gigabytes of data are generated every second.
-Soft events are when the quarks and gluons inside a proton do not collide with those inside another proton.
-Hard events are when quarks or gluons have direct head-on hits.
-The GRID was invented to handle the enormous amount of data, which is a vast network of processing power.
-Symmetry in the subatomic world refers to invariance under a transformation of particles. For example, the strong force is symmetric, since it does not distinguish between protons and neutrons.
-The configuration inside a superconductor spontaneously breaks the gauge symmetry associated with electromagnetism, giving mass to the photon. Photons are impeded in their motion and they can propagate the electromagnetic force only within a short range, behaving like massive force carriers.
-The Higgs mechanism contributes less than a kilogram of mass to the average person.
-The Higgs substance becomes much less dense at temperatures exceeding one quadrillion degrees.
-Nature saves energy by filling space with the Higgs substance, rather than leaving it empty.
-Present understanding of matter and forces is based on 3 elements: 1. general relativity (gravity) 2. Yang-Mills gauge theory (strong, weak, composition of matter) 3. Higgs sector (spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry)
-The masses of quarks accounts for 1% of proton and neutron masses.
-98% of the mass of hadrons comes from the motion of quarks and gluons (binding force of QCD)
-Electromagnetic effects account for the other 1%.
-Higgs mechanism generates the quark masses, but not the QCD effect
-Higgs mechanism accounts for 1% of the mass of ordinary matter, or 0.2% of the mass of the universe.
-Electromagnetic waves are purely transverse, because the electric and magnetic fields oscillate only in directions perpendicular to the direction of motion.
-Samuel Goudsmit and George Uhlenbeck invented the concept of particle spin in 1925.
-The rate of particle spin never changes, like electric charge.
-The 3 coupling constants become nearly equal at 10^-32 meters, which is beyond what can be explored at the LHC. It would be like using regular binoculars to spot molecules on the surface of the moon.
-Gravitational red shift is not the same as Doppler red shift. Gravitational red shift refers to the increase in wavelength of light as it loses energy during its escape from a star.
-On the scale of the universe, 3000 billion complete LHC programs are occurring every second.
-INFLATION: In 10^-35 seconds, the universe expanded by a factor of 10^30, which is equivalent to a 20 nanometer virus expanding into a creature with a diameter of 2.2 million light years in the time it takes light to cross a few millionths of a zeptometer. (How awesome is that?)
-Our technology can peer no further back than 380,000 years after inflation, due to the background temperature exceeding 2700 degrees Celsius, which is like a brick wall to electromagnetic radiation. Thus, the early universe is 'opaque' to our current telescopes.
-Experiments must be sensitive to 10^-19 watts in order to detect dark matter.
-The 72% estimate for dark energy comes from observations of supernovae and data from the cosmic microwave background.
-Due to the expansion of space, nothing beyond the solar system will be visible 500 billion years from now. (Like it will matter.)
-The prefix 'zepto' is derived from the Latin 'septem' and the 's' was changed to a 'z' in order to avoid duplication of symbols, since the 'second' already uses 's' as an abbreviation. 'Zepto' is a relatively new prefix, as it was invented in 1991. A zeptometer is one billionth of a billionth of a millimeter. Or, it is one million times smaller than the diameter of a proton. We actually have the ability to probe this fantastically small space.
-Leibniz (a contemporary of Isaac Newton) called atoms 'monads'. (Philip K. Dick sometimes used the word 'monad' in his novels. Now I know where it came from.)
-Cathode rays were originally thought to be electromagnetic radiation, but photons do not have charge.
-The atom was first split in 1897 by J.J. Thomson, since a fragment (the electron) was observed. Electrons (not photons) were determined to be cathode rays.
-The ratio between the size of the solar system (out to Neptune) and the diameter of the Sun is 6,000:1. The ratio between the size of an atom and its nucleus is 20,000:1. Thus, there is more empty space (relatively speaking) inside atoms than inside our solar system.
-Leo Szilard first thought of liberating atomic energy, due to the fact that neutrons don't ionize matter.
-The weak nuclear force transforms particles, while the electromagnetic force does not transform them.
-Subatomic particles are nothing but localizations of quantum field energy. An electron is not really a particle, but a lump of energy in a quantum field.
-The slow disintegration of some hadrons led to the property of strangeness. Strangeness is a property of particles, like charge or mass. It refers to unusually slow decays.
-The W bosons mediate the 'charged current' weak interaction, in which neutrinos transform into electrons. The Z boson mediates the 'neutral current' weak interaction, in which neutrinos retain their identities.
-The discovery of neutral currents provided evidence for electroweak unification.
-Less than 1% of particle accelerators are used for science research. The majority are used in hospitals.
-X-rays lose most of their energy close to the skin surface, causing more damage to healthy cells than hadron-based treatments. (This makes sense. X-rays do not have mass, but hadrons do.)
-A bent proton beam emits ten thousand billion times less radiation than an electron beam.
-It takes 20 minutes for a proton beam to reach 7 TeV.
-A proton beam consists of 2,808 bunches of 100 billion protons per bunch. Each bunch is separated by 10 meters. 100 billion protons weighs about a ten-trillionth of a gram.
-The full power of the beam can melt a 1,000 pound block of solid copper.
-Two main detectors are called ATLAS and CMS. Each consists of 4 structures: 1. trackers 2. electromagnetic calorimeters 3. hadron calorimeters 4. muon chambers
-One million gigabytes of data are generated every second.
-Soft events are when the quarks and gluons inside a proton do not collide with those inside another proton.
-Hard events are when quarks or gluons have direct head-on hits.
-The GRID was invented to handle the enormous amount of data, which is a vast network of processing power.
-Symmetry in the subatomic world refers to invariance under a transformation of particles. For example, the strong force is symmetric, since it does not distinguish between protons and neutrons.
-The configuration inside a superconductor spontaneously breaks the gauge symmetry associated with electromagnetism, giving mass to the photon. Photons are impeded in their motion and they can propagate the electromagnetic force only within a short range, behaving like massive force carriers.
-The Higgs mechanism contributes less than a kilogram of mass to the average person.
-The Higgs substance becomes much less dense at temperatures exceeding one quadrillion degrees.
-Nature saves energy by filling space with the Higgs substance, rather than leaving it empty.
-Present understanding of matter and forces is based on 3 elements: 1. general relativity (gravity) 2. Yang-Mills gauge theory (strong, weak, composition of matter) 3. Higgs sector (spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry)
-The masses of quarks accounts for 1% of proton and neutron masses.
-98% of the mass of hadrons comes from the motion of quarks and gluons (binding force of QCD)
-Electromagnetic effects account for the other 1%.
-Higgs mechanism generates the quark masses, but not the QCD effect
-Higgs mechanism accounts for 1% of the mass of ordinary matter, or 0.2% of the mass of the universe.
-Electromagnetic waves are purely transverse, because the electric and magnetic fields oscillate only in directions perpendicular to the direction of motion.
-Samuel Goudsmit and George Uhlenbeck invented the concept of particle spin in 1925.
-The rate of particle spin never changes, like electric charge.
-The 3 coupling constants become nearly equal at 10^-32 meters, which is beyond what can be explored at the LHC. It would be like using regular binoculars to spot molecules on the surface of the moon.
-Gravitational red shift is not the same as Doppler red shift. Gravitational red shift refers to the increase in wavelength of light as it loses energy during its escape from a star.
-On the scale of the universe, 3000 billion complete LHC programs are occurring every second.
-INFLATION: In 10^-35 seconds, the universe expanded by a factor of 10^30, which is equivalent to a 20 nanometer virus expanding into a creature with a diameter of 2.2 million light years in the time it takes light to cross a few millionths of a zeptometer. (How awesome is that?)
-Our technology can peer no further back than 380,000 years after inflation, due to the background temperature exceeding 2700 degrees Celsius, which is like a brick wall to electromagnetic radiation. Thus, the early universe is 'opaque' to our current telescopes.
-Experiments must be sensitive to 10^-19 watts in order to detect dark matter.
-The 72% estimate for dark energy comes from observations of supernovae and data from the cosmic microwave background.
-Due to the expansion of space, nothing beyond the solar system will be visible 500 billion years from now. (Like it will matter.)
December 26, 2013
La prima parte del volume rappresenta una delle migliori trattazioni della fisica delle particelle che mi sia mai capitato di leggere.
L'autore riesce a condensare in un numero relativamente breve di pagine tutta la storia e la teoria delle particelle subatomiche sia nella versione classica che nella corrispondente quantistica.
Finita questa, che potremmo definire introduzione, l'autore passa a raccontarci la storia degli acceleratori di particelle e del LHC in particolare.
Per quanto mi riguarda, mi pare che la storia del LHC sia sviluppata in modo un po' sbrigativo, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la costruzione vera e proprio e il dettaglio sul funzionamento degli strumenti di misura dell'acceleratore.
Nonostante questo, rimane una testimonianza fondamentale di un traguardo non solo scientifico raggiunto con fatica e dedizione che senza dubbio segner�� un epoca, anche se i media in generale non gli hanno dato la giusta rilevanza.
Completa questa parte un bellissimo inserto con foto a colori che ci fanno letteralmente entrare nelle macchine meravigliose che compongono l'acceleratore.
Purtroppo si parla in maniera del tutto superficiale dell'infrastruttura informatica che sta dietro l'elaborazione dei dati e non viene neppure menzionato il LHC@Home.
Sar�� deformazione professionale, ma avrei volentieri letto almeno un capitolo sull'argomento.
Nella seconda parte del volume, purtroppo la narrazione si fa stentata e le spiegazioni insufficienti.
Una volta iniziato il concetto di simmetria, teoria delle stringhe e via dicendo, lo scrittore perde sfortunatamente quella chiarezza che lo aveva caratterizzato nei primi capitoli.
Non dubito che gli argomenti siano complessi e che il lavoro di un divulgatore nel campo della fisica delle altissime energie non sia semplice, tuttavia avrei forse preferito uno sforzo maggiore da parte dell'autore alla fine del libro, vista appunto la sua sua bravura nel resto.
Il libro nel suo complesso non si merita 5 stelle solo per la parte finale, ma �� un testo che non posso fare a meno di di consigliare a chiunque sia anche solo lontanamente interessato al mondo dell'infinitamente piccolo.
Springer confeziona un bel volume in copertina cartonata morbida con alette che riporta un disegno astratto a colori.
La stampa �� fatta su carta non sbiancata con carattere senza grazie perfettamente impresso, anche i grafici e i pochi disegni sono resi con precisione assoluta.
Completa e arricchisce il volume il gi�� citato inserto a colori su carta lucida con foto di grande qualit��.
L'autore riesce a condensare in un numero relativamente breve di pagine tutta la storia e la teoria delle particelle subatomiche sia nella versione classica che nella corrispondente quantistica.
Finita questa, che potremmo definire introduzione, l'autore passa a raccontarci la storia degli acceleratori di particelle e del LHC in particolare.
Per quanto mi riguarda, mi pare che la storia del LHC sia sviluppata in modo un po' sbrigativo, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la costruzione vera e proprio e il dettaglio sul funzionamento degli strumenti di misura dell'acceleratore.
Nonostante questo, rimane una testimonianza fondamentale di un traguardo non solo scientifico raggiunto con fatica e dedizione che senza dubbio segner�� un epoca, anche se i media in generale non gli hanno dato la giusta rilevanza.
Completa questa parte un bellissimo inserto con foto a colori che ci fanno letteralmente entrare nelle macchine meravigliose che compongono l'acceleratore.
Purtroppo si parla in maniera del tutto superficiale dell'infrastruttura informatica che sta dietro l'elaborazione dei dati e non viene neppure menzionato il LHC@Home.
Sar�� deformazione professionale, ma avrei volentieri letto almeno un capitolo sull'argomento.
Nella seconda parte del volume, purtroppo la narrazione si fa stentata e le spiegazioni insufficienti.
Una volta iniziato il concetto di simmetria, teoria delle stringhe e via dicendo, lo scrittore perde sfortunatamente quella chiarezza che lo aveva caratterizzato nei primi capitoli.
Non dubito che gli argomenti siano complessi e che il lavoro di un divulgatore nel campo della fisica delle altissime energie non sia semplice, tuttavia avrei forse preferito uno sforzo maggiore da parte dell'autore alla fine del libro, vista appunto la sua sua bravura nel resto.
Il libro nel suo complesso non si merita 5 stelle solo per la parte finale, ma �� un testo che non posso fare a meno di di consigliare a chiunque sia anche solo lontanamente interessato al mondo dell'infinitamente piccolo.
Springer confeziona un bel volume in copertina cartonata morbida con alette che riporta un disegno astratto a colori.
La stampa �� fatta su carta non sbiancata con carattere senza grazie perfettamente impresso, anche i grafici e i pochi disegni sono resi con precisione assoluta.
Completa e arricchisce il volume il gi�� citato inserto a colori su carta lucida con foto di grande qualit��.
August 18, 2017
Impeccabile l'introduzione alla fisica della materia e delle particelle. Stupenda la parte dedicata alla descrizione di LHC. Forse un po' troppo sintetica la parte riguardante le teorie più recenti ma comunque molto chiara. E soprattutto una naturale capacità di trasmettere la passione, il senso di meraviglia e l'emozione di lavorare al progetto scientifico più ambizioso che sia mai stato concepito.
"Lavorare in un ambiente scientifico internazionale è un'esperienza meravigliosa. Nella scienza si viene giudicati per la propria creatività e per i propri contributi, indipendentemente dall'età, dalle convinzioni religiose, dal sesso o dall'origine etnica. La ricerca scientifica insegna a pensare senza pregiudizi, a confrontarsi sulla base del ragionamento, a rispettare e ad accettare le evidenze della realtà. Ciò non significa che gli scienziati siano individui perfetti; come ogni altro essere umano hanno le loro virtù e i loro difetti. Tuttavia, nell'ambiente scientifico alcuni valori tendono a emergere, come in un processo di selezione naturale: l'incapacità di accettare l'evidenza, la fiducia cieca nei preconcetti, l'asservimento all'autorità, il razzismo e la discriminazione sicuramente non aiutano a risolvere una complessa equazione o a capire perché un un componente di un rivelatore non funziona. Sebbene non guarisca le debolezze o le cattiverie umane, la scienza ha una naturale tendenza a sviluppare certi principi nelle menti delle donne e degli uomini che la praticano, portandoli a coltivare determinati valori: è una fortunata coincidenza che questi principi e questi valori siano proprio quelli che rendono una società più tollerante, più onesta e più giusta. Per la società la scienza ha un valore che va ben al di là delle sue innovazioni tecnologiche e delle sue scoperte intellettuali."
Che invidia.
"Lavorare in un ambiente scientifico internazionale è un'esperienza meravigliosa. Nella scienza si viene giudicati per la propria creatività e per i propri contributi, indipendentemente dall'età, dalle convinzioni religiose, dal sesso o dall'origine etnica. La ricerca scientifica insegna a pensare senza pregiudizi, a confrontarsi sulla base del ragionamento, a rispettare e ad accettare le evidenze della realtà. Ciò non significa che gli scienziati siano individui perfetti; come ogni altro essere umano hanno le loro virtù e i loro difetti. Tuttavia, nell'ambiente scientifico alcuni valori tendono a emergere, come in un processo di selezione naturale: l'incapacità di accettare l'evidenza, la fiducia cieca nei preconcetti, l'asservimento all'autorità, il razzismo e la discriminazione sicuramente non aiutano a risolvere una complessa equazione o a capire perché un un componente di un rivelatore non funziona. Sebbene non guarisca le debolezze o le cattiverie umane, la scienza ha una naturale tendenza a sviluppare certi principi nelle menti delle donne e degli uomini che la praticano, portandoli a coltivare determinati valori: è una fortunata coincidenza che questi principi e questi valori siano proprio quelli che rendono una società più tollerante, più onesta e più giusta. Per la società la scienza ha un valore che va ben al di là delle sue innovazioni tecnologiche e delle sue scoperte intellettuali."
Che invidia.
December 13, 2016
4 and a half stars. The book was a joy to read. While it is more concept heavy than most popular science books, it was helpful in elucidating some concepts for me in my theoretical physics research. The history was great to learn about too.
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