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Massive
Massive
Dec 28, 2024 6:05 AM

Author:Ian Sample

Massive

In the early 1960s, three groups of physicists, working independently in different countries, stumbled upon an idea that would change physics and fuel the imagination of scientists for decades. That idea was the Higgs boson – to find it would be to finally understand the origins of mass – the last building block of life itself. Now, almost 50 years later, that particle has finally been discovered.

Award-winning science writer Ian Sample weaves together the personal stories and intense rivalries of the teams of scientists behind the Higgs boson. Massive is a tale of grand ambition, trans-Atlantic competition, clashing egos and occasionally spectacular failures. From the giant particle colliders built to further the scientists' quest to the political fallout of budget blowouts, debates over whether the search might even destroy the universe, to the incredible discovery of the particle itself, this is an epic story of imagination, personal ambition, sub-atomic exploration and global significance.

Whichever way you look at it, this story is massive.

Reviews

Fine reportage ... makes clear the sheer achievement of the scientists and engineers who have built the LHC, the most complex machine ever made in the service of pure science.

—— Graham Farmelo , Guardian

A fast-moving narrative ... a great scientific adventure.

—— Frank Close , BBC Focus Magazine

This is nerd heaven. Finally, particle physics gets a proper page-turner. A smart, breathless race through Higgs, his tiny, tiny particle and the big, big search to find it.

—— Dara O Briain

The biggest scientific discovery of the 21st century. Period

—— Forbes

A compelling work of popular science, full of mind-boggling ideas and a real sense of the excitement of scientific discovery

—— Guardian

The little man of 'perpetual movement' has found a fine advocate in Thomas Wright, whose highly readable Circulation combines recent scholarship with more than a touch of drama

—— Times Literary Supplement

Thomas Wright's lucid biography...deftly puts Harvey into his cultural context

—— Hermione Eyre , Prospect

As soon as I started this book, I was gripped with curiosity

—— William Leith , Spectator

Thomas Wright's lively little book on Harvey's revolutionary idea is a panegyric to the man's whirring mind, and to the excitements of thinking more generally

—— Helen Brown , Daily Telegraph

Excellent and often bloodthirsty... A highly readable account of a great Englishman

—— Tablet

A vivid biography of William Harvey, which reveals his complex character

—— Patricia Fara , BBC History Magazine

It’s a pretty gruesome story – told very well here by Thomas Wright

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

An engaging and lively account of an endlessly curious man

—— Independent

Emotional and resonant… Sharp, funny and sad in equal measure

—— Sally Morris , Daily Mail

Written with the same passion and wit that punctuated his reviews for the likes of NME, Coleman shares his journey to reconnecting with the soundtrack of his life

—— Big Issue in the North

I can’t tell you how good it is but I’ll try… It’s a superb analysis

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

A warm, witty and very candid book

—— Natasha Harding , Sun

The book offers experiences and, for anyone whose responsiveness to the world has slackened, a reminder of how full experience can be.

—— Amy Leach , Observer

Tim Dee has a deep feeling for the natural world and an ability to celebrate it in ways that seem fresh and new.

—— Tim Richardson , Literary Review

[Dee] writes so well, and so personably, that he casts a disarming spell over his readers.

—— Mary Blanche Ridge , Tablet

[Dee] is at once a naturalist, environmentalist, journalist, historian and diarist. Dee’s rich writing delights as he imparts his considerable research and observations about life and the state of the world

—— Good Book Guide

[It] belongs in the tradition of 'nature writing', but works with it too putting its beautifully written sentences in the service of description and evocation, but using them to frame a serious conversation about environmental preservation and its opposites; it’s a deeply attractive book and also an important one.

—— Andrew Motion , Guardian

Felt very deeply and pondered very wisely, it takes four areas of the planet and tells their story in ways that bring the plight (and delight) of the earth as a whole within reach.

—— Andrew Motion , Times Literary Supplement

A lyrical, poetic reflection on our relationship with the natural world.

—— Tim Maguire , Edinburgh Evening News

This profound work by Tim Dee is as creative and original as anything on the Man Booker shortlist and arguably more “useful”... The book’s reach is extraordinary.

—— Bel Mooney , Daily Mail

[A] marvellous new memoir.

—— Richard Mabey , New Statesman

An enthralling and unexpected book of what we have made of the natural world

—— Kathleen Jamie , Guardian

This is nature writing at its finest

—— Juanita Coulson , Lady

With the eye of a birdwatcher and the soul of a poet, Dee meditates on our green spaces and what we have made of them

—— Michael Kerr , Telegraph

Dee’s rich writing delights as he imparts his considerable research and observations about life and the state of the world

—— Good Book Guide

Charged with meaning and lyrically luminous, Four Fields is an unquantifiable work – and an unmissable one

—— Melissa Harrison , The Times
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