The Perfect Wave: With Neutrinos at the Boundary of Space and Time
Entertaining and evocative,Päshas written a breezy, readable account of particle physics, especially neutrino physics, in a lucid, lively narrative. (Sandip Pakvasa, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa)Takes readers for a wild ride in pursuit of the neutrino--part ghost, part outlaw, part Holy Grail to theoretical physicists…From vast laboratories deep underground to the cutting edge Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory nearing completion in frigid Antarctica,Päsreveals the ‘world of madmen, dreamers, and visionaries’ who pursue the neutrino and its place in theoretical physics.” (Publishers Weekly2013-11-11)Päsfor his part, places neutrinos within the broader context of contemporary high theory and delves deeper into the science. Physics buffs will relish his explanations, and not just of established ideas such a the seesaw mechanism. Neutrinos, Päs explains, may offer a way to probe the extra dimensions of space postulated by some ‘theories of everything.’ The puny particles’ weirdness, it seems, knows no end. (The Economist2014-02-01)The ghostly neutrino--a mutable, almost massless particle that can pass through dense substances--stars in this scientific history. Theoretical physicistHeinrich Pässurfs the decades of dazzling research since Wolfgang Pauli first posited the particle in 1930. Päs revisits key theorists such as Ettore Majorana, and lays out the work of groundbreaking labs from Los Alamos in New Mexico, where Fred Reines and Clyde Cowan first detected neutrinos in the early 1950s, to today’s vast IceCube neutrino observatory in Antarctica. (Nature2014-01-23)Some science books are good because they tell you a lot about science. Some are good because they present their examples and argument in very well written prose. A few do both.The Perfect Waveis one of the few…I can highly recommendThe Perfect Waveas a pleasant and provocative way to gain insight into the way physicists think, and into the way the universe (probably) works. (John GribbinWall Street Journal2014-04-15)