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How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World
by Suzie Sheehy
A surprising, fascinating journey through the experiments that not only unlocked the nature of matter and shaped our understanding of the cosmos but also forever changed the way we live within it.
Physics has always sought to deepen our understanding of the nature of matter and the world around us. But how do you conduct experiments with the fundamental building blocks of existence? How do you manipulate a particle a trillion times smaller than a grain of sand? How do you cause a proton to sail around a twenty-seven-kilometer-long loop 11,000 times per second? And, crucially, why is all this important?
In The Matter of Everything, accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy introduces us to the people who, through a combination of genius, persistence and luck, staged the experiments that changed the course of history. From the serendipitous discovery of X-rays in a German laboratory to the scientists trying to prove Einstein wrong (and inadvertently proving him right) to the race to split open the atom, these brilliant experiments led to some of the most significant breakthroughs in science and fundamentally changed our lives. They have helped us detect the flow of lava deep inside volcanoes, develop life-saving medical techniques like diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy, and create radio, TV, microwaves, smartphones—even the World Wide Web itself—among countless other advancements.
Along the way, Sheehy pulls back the curtain to reveal how physics is really done—not only by theorists with equation-filled blackboards but also by experimentalists with hand-blown glass, hot air balloons and cathedral-sized electronics. Celebrating human ingenuity, creativity and above all curiosity, The Matter of Everything is an inspiring story of discovery and a powerful reminder that progress is a function of our desire to know.
"Physicist [Suzie] Sheehy debuts with a terrific history of experiments that have changed the course of science. In a fast-paced and accessible narrative, Sheehy keenly demonstrates how 'our view of the smallest constituents in nature has changed rapidly throughout the last 120 years.' ... Along the way come fascinating profiles of scientists, including several women who have been omitted from history... . With punchy writing and vivid historical details, Sheehy brilliantly captures the curiosity that fuels science, the frustration of 'false starts and failures,' and the thrill of finding answers that are bound to raise more questions. This is pop science at its best." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An exhilarating overview of experimental science and the remarkable humans who make discovery possible." - Kirkus Reviews
"Readers curious about the important breakthroughs in physics will appreciate this conceptualized overview of some of the most innovative and influential experiments, which advanced the understanding of the fundamental nature of reality." - Library Journal
"This is a book about the fundamental problems of physics written from a viewpoint I hadn't come across before: that of the experimenter. Someone first thought of the cloud chamber, or the cyclotron, or the MRI scanner, and that person (or that team) had to build one: you couldn't buy one off the shelf. The actual sequence of experiments, and failures, and more experiments, and success, is a fascinating one, especially for any readers excited, as I am, by the thought of making things. A splendid idea, vividly carried out: I enjoyed this book enormously." – Philip Pullman
"This fascinating and highly readable book captures the radical excitement of experimental science as it's being made. It's an all-action thriller, laced with some of the most profound ideas humans have ever had." – Brian Eno
This information about The Matter of Everything was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dr. Suzie Sheehy is a physicist, science communicator and academic who divides her time between research groups at the University of Oxford and University of Melbourne. She is currently focused on developing new particle accelerators for applications in medicine. The Matter of Everything is her first book.
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