Good Particle Physics Book

Posted by kevindick in Science on January 12th, 2009 | View Comments
I apologize for the posting lull.  I've had a bad cold and been struggling to add Monte Carlo simulation to my discrete stochastic model of the startup lifecycle (if anyone is planning on using Oracle's Crystal Ball, I can tell you the good and bad). But I'm almost finished with my next substantial post. In the meantime, I finished a really good physics book: Lightness of Being by Nobel prize winner Frank Wilczek. It requires a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics (I suggest Al-Khalili's Quantum) and particle physics (any recent popular book that spends more than one chapter on the Standard Model). Given that, it does an awesome job of explaining three things that have always bothered me. First, how the strong force can possibly get more powerful the farther away you get. Second, why we can't break protons and neutrons into their component quarks.  Third, where the heck a proton's mass really comes from. It turns out all three things are related and the explanation is quite elegant.  I don't know why the dozen other physics books I've read in the last five years ommitted an explanation (or at least an explanation that stuck with me).

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  • Daniel
    I am curious as well.
  • I have a few questions for you, perhaps you can briefly address them:

    1) How the strong force can possibly get more powerful the farther away you get?

    2) Why we can’t break protons and neutrons into their component quarks?

    3) Where the heck does a proton’s mass really come from?

    :-)

    But seriously, if you can summarize the answers in this or a new post that would be great!
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