| The Particle Garden: Our Universe As Understood By Particle Physicists (Helix Books) |  | Author: Gordon Kane
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
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Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 448,754
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0201408260
Dewey Decimal Number: 539.72
EAN: 9780201408263
ASIN: 0201408260
Publication Date: July 2, 1996
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| • | ISBN13: 9780201408263 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
The Particle Garden is the clearest survey of particle physics, including the theory, its experimental foundations, its relations to cosmology and astrophysics, and its future. Known as an excellent expositor of physics, Kane has marshaled his research and teaching experience to make this daunting subject understandable to all readers.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 The best I've found so far, but there's a need for something better March 24, 2009
Sturmey Archer
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There must a need out there for a good book about particle physics for the layman. It's such an important topic and with the prominence of the LHC in the news, you would think publishers would be striving to produce a book which is accessible, well-written, and richly illustrated. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be such a book out there.
This is the closest that I've found to that ideal. It's well written and covers the standard model effectively. It presents sufficient historical context to help the reader understand the relevance of the concepts, and the chapters on the experimental side of the particle physics were very helpful in tying the ideas to empirical evidence. The discussion of string theory was just enough to let the reader know of its relevance, and the epistemology discussions were a welcome diversion from dry scientific topics.
But, like other books on the topic, it would benefit from better illustrations. After all, symmetry is important to the standard model and naturally lends itself well to illustration, along the lines of what you would find in a Scientific American article. I'm still waiting for a good book for the layman on particle physics, but so far, this is the best I've seen.
 Epistemology in Particle Physics March 3, 2009
Orville B. Jenkins (Arlington, Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of the many books on various disciplines of science which I bought between 2001-3. I bought this one in December 2001, but I didn't actually read it until March 2006. In this well-written volume on particle physics, Kane does more than the regular review of the particles that physics now considers make up the known universe.
He portrays an understandable history of discovery that clarifies some of the conceptions that seem muddled in either technical writing or the popular magazine portrayals of physics and theories of the universe. And Kane does not rest on the bare presentation of the chronological story of discovery. He evaluates each new level of discovery in light of the meaning for our understanding of the universe and how that contributes to our practical lives.
He deals with implications from these discoveries for our concepts of knowledge, how we learn, how we organize this new information, and how we integrate knowledge from this minute particle level of existence to our macro level of participation in the world around us. This book in a good contribution to the philosophy of knowledge, Epistemology.
Kane deals with concepts of understanding and verification procedures, which provides some reference points for epistemology on the wider basis. This is particularly pertinent in our current post-information age, when the various disciplines seem scattered and separated, due to the simply overwhelming volume of all that is known, all there is to know now, and all that this knowledge has pointed out needing to be yet investigated.
He addresses some points related to the boundaries and abilities of mythical, or religious, or mystical, points of view and the seemingly similar ideas presented nowadays by theoretical physics. This should be helpful for clarifying processes of knowing and validity of claims to knowledge.
 Elementary particles for the, um, million November 28, 2004
Jill Malter (jillmalter@aol.com)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a pretty good book, but I'm still trying to work out just what audience it is best suited for.
How about a bright high school freshman, one who hasn't taken physics or even advanced algebra yet? Or perhaps someone a bit older who never took much mathematics. This book really does not require much (if any) math.
That might be good. Such a person might want to know about elementary particles. They're fascinating. And they are the building blocks of matter.
The book starts with an explanation of what particles are, a little history of particle physics, and (here's what a high school student might want to know) some description of what it is like to become a particle physicist: you go to college, you go to graduate school, you become a post-doc, you stay at a university, where you work on experiments or do theory, or maybe you just give up and get a job on Wall Street.
Then there is a description of the standard model, with the quantum numbers for the particles we know about. The Higgs boson is added to the list, even though it has not been discovered. And there is a discussion of high energy experiments, and plenty about that Higgs boson.
And there's material about supersymmetry and a little about cosmology.
There are a couple of appendices. One has a few pages on Feynman diagrams. Okay, that may confuse some readers but it is just an appendix. I'd leave it in. Another mentions internal symmetries. Here, I think some diagrams showing a few SU(3) multiplets wouldn't have hurt, but I guess Kane figured that telling about the families of leptons and quarks was enough.
In short, it is a good choice for the audience I mentioned. I just wish it had a little more in it. What's there gives a reader a good idea about why some folks find so much beauty and fascination in this field.
 Boring April 30, 2004
2 out of 19 found this review helpful
I've read several popular physics books, and I think this one was the worst. I hoped the followup "Supersymmetry" would be better. I think I made it through the first chapter before putting it down for good. Try Elegant Universe or one of Stephen Hawking's books instead.
Great Book For Interested Physics Students December 28, 2002
Brett Sanders (Encinitas, California United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
When reading books about Chemistry or Physics, the level of depth is usually to the electron, proton, neutron, and there is usually some mention of quarks and antimatter and dark matter, but with no explanation of where these ideas are coming from. This book gives a good, nonmathematical description of the Standard Theory (Model) of particle physics, which gives a good account of what particles are known, how forces are treated using particles called Bosons. The books will answer any questions about what is known, but without proofs. I plan to study physics as an undergrad, and probably grad too, and have always been attracted to learning about the fundamental particles. This book was very satisfying for me, and will be for other interested students. Kane provides information about not only the standard theory, but also the facilities where research is done, where the field is going, and what a future student can expect. A quick read and definitely worth the time!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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