Beyond the Nanoworld: Quarks, Leptons, and Gauge Bosons.BEYOND THE NANOWORLD: Quarks QuarksThe basic constituent particles of which elementary particles are understood to be composed. Theoretical models built on the quark concept have been very successful in understanding and predicting many phenomena in the physics of elementary particles. , Leptons, and Gauge Bosons gauge boson A boson that acts as a mediator of one of the fundamental forces of nature. The gauge bosons are the photon, which mediates the electromagnetic force, the gluon, which mediates the strong nuclear force, the intermediate vector bosons (the Z HANS GUNTER DOSCH The physics of subatomic particles was the 20th century's quintessential quin·tes·sen·tial adj. Of, relating to, or having the nature of a quintessence; being the most typical: "Liszt was the quintessential romantic" Musical Heritage Review. big science. Discovering the building blocks of matter required smashing particles at ever higher energies, which in turn required accelerators and detectors of increasingly epic scales. Equally heroic he·ro·ic adj. Relating to a risky medical procedure that may endanger the patient but also has a possibility of being successful, whereas lesser action would result in failure. efforts went into devising a consistent theory of how those building blocks worked and interacted--what has come to be known as the standard model of particle physics particle physics or high-energy physics Study of the fundamental subatomic particles, including both matter (and antimatter) and the carrier particles of the fundamental interactions as described by quantum field theory. . Dosch, a theoretical physicist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, describes the field's historical unfolding, taking the reader deep into its concepts, experimental tools, and data diagrams. But Dosch's historical approach is a means to an end, and he keeps his focus on the science rather than on the lives of those who created it or on the political hurdles to securing support for billion-dollar experiments. AK Peters, 2008, 282 p., b&w illus. and photos, hardcover, $39.00. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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