How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World

I usually have a hard time reading books about particle physics. Even though I have a PhD in engineering, I still find myself struggling with the difference between bosons, leptons, and the other ones. Fortunately, this book is approachable enough that you don't really need to grasp the specific details to get an appreciation for what's happening. In addition, the author repeats the concepts enough times (not in an annoying way), that I found myself remembering what a boson was for more than three femtoseconds.

This book was the best explanation of what the Higgs boson is that I've read. It also gave me a better appreciation for what particle physicists do, how they can be confident about their results, and where the science goes from here (and why I should care).

Definitely recommended to those with an interest in physics. Keep in mind that this book is almost ten years old, however. The Nobel was awarded in 2013 to Higgs and Englert. Gravitational waves (but not the graviton) were detected in 2015. So things have progressed since the book was published. ( )

One of my all time favorites physics books. A beautiful compilation of discovery and explanation. From the Big Bang to the Standard Model interpreted with the new addition of the Higgs Field, this will become a classic in science. ( )

This is for the non-science audience. Starts to talk about how symetries lead to the forces on page 150 however, and appendix one is okay as far as ' so what's Higgs now ? ' ( )

This is a very well-written introduction to particle physics. I may have even understood some of it. It centers on the search of the Higgs boson (or at least a Higgs boson), which is a story of discovery in itself, but it also covers the entire particle zoo of the Standard Model. It's quite thought provoking, even for us non-physicists. It also provides a good description of how science works and some of the things that motivate scientists. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of insight on this intriguing subject. (I did notice one obvious error in the chart on page 294, which I assume was a printer's error.) ( )