Review: Higgs Force /Author: Nicholas Mee / Publisher: The Lutterworth Press / Release Date: Out Now
Oh I could rack my brain trying to explain
Where it is I think that we are heading
Strangely Strange, but Oddly Normal
Dr Strangely Strange
Want to know the secret to everything ever? Then look no further than Higgs Force, the book that seeks to explain how modern physicists understand the universe by exposing the complex secrets of matter (Yes, you did read that right).
The universe, it would seem, began in a state of total symmetry, but not for long, as it expanded at a suitably mind-boggling rate, the temperature dropped and its perfectly aligned nature became lost in the ensuring chaos of creation.
The confirmation of this idea – the elusive Higgs particle, the progenitor of all life everywhere – could prove the revolutionary find of the century. And if by chance it’s not really there, then plenty of physicists will be walking around shame-faced – as well as having to create a whole new model of life, the universe, and everything in-between. So this diminutive bad boy of science is the main focus of Nickolas Mee’s obsession book and beyond that Higgs Force sheds light on the personalities behind the search for the so called God particle. We encounter a professor addicted to laughing gas, the inventor of the kaleidoscope and even the odd ghost from time to time. It’s an in-depth study of fundamental physics and why things, put simply, are the way they are.
You have to have a vested interest in the subject matter to be able to read Higgs Force, more than just a passing fancy. If you’re the type of person who’s watched Dr. Brian Cox on the telly and think you know a thing or two about particle accelerators and Large Hadron Colliders, then think again. This book probably isn’t for you. If however, you have a job in physics or are working your way through a degree on a related subject and know a thing or two about string theory and the event horizon of a black hole then this will be right up your street.
Higgs Force isn’t an easy read and the steep learning curve required to keep with Nicholas Mee’s narrative is a tough hill to climb.
That’s not to say Higgs Force is without merits (No, really). It includes song lyrics and quotes from popular culture to help ease the strain. There are pretty pictures to look at and stroke. Diagrams just in case you think Nicholas Mee might be making it all up, and he saves the best for last: little brain teasers poised as questions to make sure you weren’t asleep at the back of class.
You gotta love this guy!
