ヒッグス粒子の発見から10年が経過したことを踏まえ改訂した本書は、私たちをクォーク、エレクトロン、ニュートリノといった主だった素粒子を調べる原子の旅に連れ出し、ヒッグス粒子の重要な意義と役割を明らかにします。その過程で、素粒子物理学における発見がどのようになされたかについて興味深い洞察を提供し、これらの進展により私たちの世界像がどのように修正されたかを解説します。また、反物質と巨大ニュートリノの謎に関する新たな見解を紹介し、基本粒子と力を形成するヒッグス場の性質について、次の半世紀の研究が何を明らかにするかを展望します。
 

• A compelling and lively one-volume introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe
• Forms a companion volume to Nuclear Physics: A Very Short Introduction by the same author
• Provides insights into how discoveries in particle physics have actually been made

New to this Edition:

• Fully updated to include the discovery of the Higgs Boson and its implications

   
Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, Frank Close has produced this major revision to his classic and compelling introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe. Frank Close takes us on a journey into the atom to examine known particles such as quarks, electrons, and the ghostly neutrino, and explains the key role and significance of the Higgs boson. Along the way he provides fascinating insights into how discoveries in particle physics have actually been made, and discusses how our picture of the world has been radically revised in the light of these developments. He concludes by looking ahead to new ideas about the mystery of antimatter and massive neutrinos, and to what the next 50 years of research might reveal about the nature of the Higgs field which moulds the fundamental particles and forces.