|
| Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics | 
| Author: Bruce A. Schumm
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $30.95
Buy New: $18.23
You Save: $12.72 (41%)
New (30) from $18.23
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 84162
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 392
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 080187971X
Dewey Decimal Number: 539.72
EAN: 9780801879715
ASIN: 080187971X
Publication Date: October 20, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Ships by USPS. 1+ million customers served-In business since 1986. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. Toll Free Support
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 28 | | NEXT » |
Higgs boson, explained at last! November 15, 2008
This is a most readable book. Some of us, particle physics 'aficionados', have been struggling for years trying to understand what are Lie groups, what is the gauge principle and where does the Higgs boson come from. This book definetly covers a gap.
Most existing books for the layman try to explaing the same things from the very beginning: what are complex numbers, the principles of quantum mechanics and its probabilistic nature, and the equivalence between mass and energy, among others. For readers that are already familiar with those concepts, and want to go further, this book is just what they have been looking for.
It is hard to imagine a better balance between depht of the material and easy to follow explanations. The author focuses on a few concepts and explains them slowly, going back to them again and again, until the reader finally grasps the thing. Instead of trying to be exhaustive, only the following topics are covered in some detail:
- Lie groups. We have heard of U(1), SU(2) and SU(3). At last one can find a demystifying explanation of what they are: just continuous rotation groups in various complex dimmensions.
- The gauge principle. That is, how local symmetries are exploited to build dynamic equations for the main forces of nature
- Electroweak unification. Observed particles in nature (photon and the W bosons) are combinations of "basic" particles, due to symmetry breaking
- The Higgs field an boson. How is it that this particule "gives" the mass to others? and Where does it come from?. The author provides the best non-technical explanation that can possibly be given.
Most likely, if this is the first book you read about particle physics you won't understand much. You'll take better advantage of it if you have already heard of the topics above, but want to understand more.
The prose is easy to follow, because the author really has the gift of making himself understandable. After finishing the book, you'll be, like me, eager to know about the result of the experiments in the LHC (Large Hardron Collider) and will open a bottle of good wine to celebrate whenever the Higgs boson is finally chased.
World-class teaching September 28, 2008
Schumm does a brilliant job of explaining the conceptual underpinnings of the standard model of particle physics. He accomplishes this feat using only words and a few illustrations, making the book fully accessible to non-specialists. Even so, he does not "dumb down" the material as do most other books intended for a general audience. Instead, Schumm is able to convey the essence of complex mathematical and physical ideas without resorting to a heavy technical apparatus. The result is not light reading, but an up-to-date discourse on "natural philosophy".
Although I am not a physicist by training, I strongly suspect that this book would be useful even to aspiring professional physicists seeking a first introduction to what modern particle physics has accomplished.
extraordinary! April 24, 2008
"Deep" is an existence proof that it is possible to effectively communicate the conceptual essence of an extremely technical subject, the Standard Model of Particle Physics, without resorting to cutesy strained metaphors or wild-eyed speculation. Deep presents a remarkable overview of the framework and principle tools of particle physics that will serve not only to inform the non-specialist but to give the student who is about to embark on a physics curriculum a real sense of one of the more fascinating areas of physics.
Review for physicists February 19, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First a little about my background. I have a master's degree in mathematics, along with the usual undergraduate courses in physics (including introductory Quantum Mechanics). I am currently taking a survey course on elementary particle physics. This course is still at the undergraduate level, so there's no Quantum Field Theory (other than mentioning that there is something called QFT). Being a mathematician however, I am curious about the mathematical ideas, but not curious enough to read graduate level textbooks on QFT just for fun.
So why do I go on and on about my background? The reason is that if you, like me, are curiuos about the mathematical ideas behind elementary particle physics, and you are almost but not quite ready to dive into graduate level textbooks on the subject, this book could be a perfect match (it certainly was for me). What a relief to find a book that is both exciting and easy to read (I read it in five days), and at the same time elucidates a few of the ideas vaguely presented in "The ideas of Particle Physics" by Coughlan, Dodd & Gripaios, which is used in the course I'm taking. With my background I was also able to get a lot more from this book than the average lay person, since I can guess at some of the mathematical details.
It is also nice to know that if I do want to read graduate level textbooks on the subject, I now have a general idea of what the mathematical constructions are for. It is often a problem with graduate level books that it takes some time before you understand why certain abstract constructions are introduced.
 Not for the average joe February 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a tough book for the lay person. I am perhaps not suitably qualified to review it, but as I bought it I will do so nevertheless. I fell short of appreciating the "breathtaking beauty of particle physics," although I am certain that particle physics itself is breathtaking. There is a superb introduction and the opening chapter lays the groundwork perfectly, but after that I battled with the algebraic formulae and the complex jargon of particle physicists. The author has so little to say on the metaphysical implications of his subject; it is as though he is sitting in his living room oblivious to an entire herd of elephants. If you are interested in quantum physics as it might relate to how you live your life, then this book is probably not for you. If you are looking for an in depth analysis of the sub-atomic interactions between the "ethereal world" and the natural world, then it is.
|
|
|
Wildlife, nature and the Environment
Sponsored Links
Learn how to get your own Amazon Book shop | |
