The Quantum Frontier: The Large Hadron Collider

I am not a scientist but am deeply interested in quantum physics. I've purchased quite a few books on the subject but without a science background or vocabulary, I have had difficulty getting through most of them. I've seen shows about the LHC for years but I wanted to know more. I came across this book and admit that I purchased it mainly because I thought the cover was beautiful.I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Don Lincoln is a scientist, but he has an ability to speak to the reader in plain English while still explaining some very complex issues. Don Lincoln helped me understand what all those other physics books I'd read were actually talking about! And the book delivers on its promise - it explains in layman's terms what the LHC is, what it does, and why it's important.If you are interested in quantum physics and/or the LHC, you will enjoy this book.

This is a largely non-technical treatment of particle physics with emphasis on experimental aspects.The author,who works at FermiLab outlines the major particles including quarks,mesons, neutrinos and others. The outstanding impression I got from the book was an idea of the sheer size and complexity of the large hadron collider at CERN- particularly the detectors. A valuable part of the book is the list of suggested readings at the end. The book came out in 2008 before the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN.The book is compact and can be read in a weekend.

I have been involved in Quantum physics for a long time now and I even have several articles on a Website electricalfun.com. My latest "The Return of CERN" is the latest deals with the Hadron Collider being back in service. When I started reading "The Quantum Frontier" I thought I was reading my own work. The writing was clear intelligent and most of all, fascinating. The text was well thought out and presented in a logical manner. In a world where some writers are trying to impress the reader with their vocabulary or knowledge of math, this book is down to earth on an unearthly subject. It is great.

Actually it was bought as a gift but I know he enjoys reading it (very slowly). I bought 3 others also so he moves from one book to the other. Some are more technical than others

This book is a very good intro to the basics of the LHC, but then changes gears in the middle of chapter 4. Here he tells you that the book is going to go into more details so general readers should just skip to the next chapter. It read to me like he had written the last half of the 4th chapter first, then was told to dumb it down for real people and just wrote around it. He really should have gone back and put some more time into that part.Still, it has lots of interesting stuff throughout. It begins by telling us why it is safe and what we already know about the standard model. Stuff like quarks and neutrinos and the strong force. Then it explains the stuff the LHC will look for like the Higgs Boson, Supersymmetry and even possible what makes up quarks. Then it gets more interesting talking about how the LHC will create beams of particles, and how it will detect the aftermath of the collisions. I was most entertained by the last chapter's insight into what the future holds for this type of research, including dark matter and the future of large colliders. So although it is rather thin, especially without half of a chapter, I still recommend it if you don't mind getting half a book for full price.

Don Lincoln writes for the numerous people out there who are fascinated by particle physics in general, and the Higgs boson in particular, but don't have an extensive knowledge of the subject. This author is particularly gifted for explaining science to a lay audience. When I started reading this book I immediately had the impression that it had been targeted to appeal to high school students who would want to find out more about those "weird particles". If I say this it's because it has been written with a healthy dose of humour and this has the immediate effect of relaxing the reading atmosphere.It is not a big book but it is well illustrated and this helps our understanding of the various topics that are discussed in the book. The 160 pages are divided into five chapters and only a small section might be a little more difficult. But as the author himself suggests this section can be skipped since it was purposely written for readers who would like to go a little deeper. The first two chapters give an overview of particle physics, including the Higgs boson. The next two are dedicated to the LHC accelerator and describe in detail this powerful machine and the various technologies behind the colossal detectors that are strategically positioned inside the 27km (17 miles) accelerator tunnel to analyze the zillion particle collisions that occur every second. The last chapter discusses future accelerator designs and gives us an idea of what lays ahead.You need to know that a newer version of this book was published shortly after the Higgs particle was discovered. The new title is "The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Stuff That Will Blow Your Mind". It has been considerably expanded and now makes 240 pages. It's certainly more up to date but it no longer has this atmosphere of anticipation that we find in "The Quantum Frontier". And the cover of the original edition is particularly attractive with its gold lettering. This could very well be the reason why I bought this book in the first place, but I certainly don't regret it.

Book arrived in brand new condition. This is my second Don Lincoln book. I like his writing style, sense of humor and ease of understanding.

This book is well organized and well written. My hope was to understand how the LHC worked and this book accomplished it. FIVE STARS....and it earned it. HDS

A good book describing what we already know, and what we may come to know with the help of the LHC. Written at a level that is informative for people who already understand the subject up to a point, without being condescending. If you weren't interested in particle physics you wouldn't buy this book though so the language doesn't have to be too simplistic.Just wondered though...I would have purchased the Kindle version as I have slightly dodgy vision and can increase the font size, but didn't fancy spending a tenner when the hardback cost me six quid. I notice that some Kindle versions cost more than the actual book itself. Why is this..I though a digital version of a book would be pennies as it's just a file. It doesn't even have to be packaged and shipped...I don't get it. Anyone enlighten me?!

Don Lincoln writes for the numerous people out there who are fascinated by particle physics in general, and the Higgs boson in particular, but don't have an extensive knowledge of the subject. This author is particularly gifted for explaining science to a lay audience. When I started reading this book I immediately had the impression that it had been targeted to appeal to high school students who would want to find out more about those "weird particles". If I say this it's because it has been written with a healthy dose of humour and this has the immediate effect of relaxing the reading atmosphere.It is not a big book but it is well illustrated and this helps our understanding of the various topics that are discussed in the book. The 160 pages are divided into five chapters and only a small section might be a little more difficult. But as the author himself suggests this section can be skipped since it was purposely written for readers who would like to go a little deeper. The first two chapters give an overview of particle physics, including the Higgs boson. The next two are dedicated to the LHC accelerator and describe in detail this powerful machine and the various technologies behind the colossal detectors that are strategically positioned inside the 27km (17 miles) accelerator tunnel to analyze the zillion particle collisions that occur every second. The last chapter discusses future accelerator designs and gives us an idea of what lays ahead.You need to know that a newer version of this book was published shortly after the Higgs particle was discovered. The new title is "The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Stuff That Will Blow Your Mind". It has been considerably expanded and now makes 240 pages. It's certainly more up to date but it no longer has this atmosphere of anticipation that we find in "The Quantum Frontier". And the cover of the original edition is particularly attractive with its gold lettering. This could very well be the reason why I bought this book in the first place, but I certainly don't regret it.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is amazing, both as feats of engineering and technology. Vividly written, this work presents a interesting review of the LHC and its enormous detectors. In addition, it also provides an illuminating account of the Standard Model of particle physics and its probable extension (e.g. supersymmetry and Higgs boson) which scientists want to test with LHC.The LHC is an extraordinary technological marvel. A chain of accelerators makes up the LHC complex, with the actual Large Hadron Collider being the highest energy accelerator in the chain. In the case of LHC, two bunches of high energy protons are made to pass through one another, with the hope to produce something interesting.Equally fascinating are the large detectors (both general purpose and special purpose detectors) which particle physicists use to study collisions at LHC. There are clever techniques for discovering the identity of particles coming out from these collisions. As expected, not all collisions are recorded; there is a complicated trigger system to determine which one to record by looking at different facets of the collisions.

I'm incredibly stupid and even I, Thicky McThicky-Thick-Thick (I got married and triple barreled), can understand this book. A great starter for ten if you want to know more about the world of nerds and the really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really tiny. Really tiny.

Great general coverage and history of particle physics. Amazing detail about the structure of the LHC and it's detectors but as usual with books like this due to the publishing timetable it is slightly out of date when it is released.