A Palette of Particles

by Jeremy Bernstein

From molecules to stars, much of the cosmic canvas can be painted in brushstrokes of primary the protons, neutrons, and electrons we know so well. But for meticulous detail, we have to dip into exotic hues―leptons, mesons, hadrons, quarks. Bringing particle physics to life as few authors can, Jeremy Bernstein here unveils nature in all its subatomic splendor.

In this graceful account, Bernstein guides us through high-energy physics from the early twentieth century to the present, including such highlights as the newly discovered Higgs boson. Beginning with Ernest Rutherford’s 1911 explanation of the nucleus, a model of atomic structure emerged that sufficed until the 1930s, when new particles began to be theorized and experimentally confirmed. In the postwar period, the subatomic world exploded in a blaze of unexpected findings leading to the theory of the quark, in all its strange and charmed variations. An eyewitness to developments at Harvard University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Bernstein laces his story with piquant anecdotes of such luminaries as Wolfgang Pauli, Murray Gell-Mann, and Sheldon Glashow.

Surveying the dizzying landscape of contemporary physics, Bernstein remains optimistic about our ability to comprehend the secrets of the cosmos―even as its mysteries deepen. We now know that over eighty percent of the universe consists of matter we have never identified or detected. A Palette of Particles draws readers into the excitement of a field where the more we discover, the less we seem to know.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2013

Reviews

[Jennifer Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very strange book. Part history of particle research, part memoir, part scientific book.
Author, in one of the appendices, suggests that the general reader will not understand the material in the next section, but without physics background, the general reader likely didn't understand most of the book.
I just don't know who the target audience was supposed to be. Maybe college physics students?
The book also jumps around weirdly and then doubles back and at times, reads like the author had lecture notes transcribed to make the book and then didn't bother to edit it.
I would have been much more interested in a history or a memoir.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3.5 stars if I could. I really enjoyed this book as someone who wanted an overview of particles beyond a textbook. I wanted to begin my exposure to the topic in an interesting way without being too “dumbed-down.” This interweaving of personal, historical and scientific narratives was a fantastic introduction to particle physics, even if the hard physics doesn’t make sense to me yet. I enjoyed this as a prerequisite as I am about to commit myself to learning more about particle physics in detail. I would probably have given a higher rating of the book if the physics made more sense to me - perhaps only the fault of my own!

[Arvind Balasundaram · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a little book that makes a noble attempt to categorize the very complex world of particle physics into the primary, secondary, and exotic shades typical of an artist's palette. Starting with the discovery of the basic primary particles (electron, proton, neutron), Bernstein provides an account of the myriad of complex particles (quarks, mesons, bosons) discovered as accelerators and hadron colliders came into vogue. While the classification's aims are elegant in its intent to simplify particle structure of high-energy physics, this volume fails to transcend the abstruse concepts of an academic physicist, and falls woefully short of rendering a cohesive, easy-to-understand holistic picture. Readers are better off staying with the likes of Brian Greene and Brian Cox, where simple narrative is never compromised, and the reader is spared unnecessary detail in order to present an understanding of the bigger picture.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely, small book about particle physics and some important physicists.

[Melanie Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting, I really liked how he integrated science with storytelling! he lost me at the end though with the abstract particles and it felt like he was trying to decipher too big of concepts

[Mags · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried reading this book in college but gave up as I thought I didn’t understand it. Now I know it’s because it’s written badly - the author didn’t have a clear idea of what he actually wanted to do. He jumps from story to story, sometimes talking about unsuccessful experiments then switching to complex theories with no explanations of the basics. The way he planned the chapters made me think it’d be a great explanation of each particle - not random facts intertwined with his personal experiences and opinions of other physicists. Also apparently not a single woman contributed to the discovery of any of the particles? This actually lowers my rating down to two stars. Erasing female scientists is just so typical.

[Bonnie Wielt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential, but just didn’t quite do it for me. I really think it could have benefited from a different editor! I was confused about who the intended audience was and the author had both too little, and too much faith in the reader at various points. I did enjoy the personal anecdotes scattered throughout. It was a quick read, which is the primary reason I finished it. If it had been longer, I don’t know that I would have.

[kyky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky fun book about particle physics. I've not quite followed the analogy to a t, it could be that it needs to be a little more fleshed out, or it could just be me. I do think, however, that this gives a good mash up of physics in a concise book, and is nice to refer to at times, but should definitely not be used as a primary source.
3.75/5

[Emmanuel Boucaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really good but wow is it complicated. It’s written in a way that makes sense, but the baseline knowledge to understand all of this seems kind of high, so I got maybe 50% of what he was saying. Still, a very enjoyable 50% and would recommend it to anyone interested in particle physics.

[Marin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book. The order of events, and detail given was great to understand this sector of physics history through a different lens. Appreciated the additional touches made on chemistry as well.

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too esoteric, mind-numbingly dull and just a cursory attempt at delivering on the title.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book was a lot of of physics, a little bit of history, and some fun personal anecdotes. I have to admit that with just a semester or two of college physics, most of this went a bit over my head. Even when the author tried to slowly work your brain around something, most of it is still too abstract to grasp from a single reading of any one book. Nevertheless, I do now have a bit more of an understanding of quarks (and how they got that name!), know that there are things called gluons, and that you can further divide properties into tri-colors (and American usually choose red, white, and blue, which I think is kinda adorable in a predictably patriotic kind of way).

All in all, this is an interesting read for the physics buff (including wannabe physics buffs) or science history buff in your life.

[Fvandrog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by appearance, seems to be the take-home message for this book. That’s not only the general message in the content, but also a reflection on the size of this book. Bernstein does a superb job at explaining what basic particles common matter is made up off, as well as giving detailed explanation of the more exotic particles that have been observed in physics experiments. The book is brief but comprehensive and in my opinion succeeds in explaining fundamental physical concepts in layman’s terms without losing out on precision. Additionally, the book provides a chronology of the discoveries, both theoretical and as detected, as well as some background about the leading physicists of the last century.

Overall, this book provides a lot of knowledge in well written form and I would heartily recommend it for anyone interested in general science and quantum physics.

[Firda · Rating 3 out of 5]

*is put under further scrutiny later*

I don't know, but I think the analogy used in this book to explain the particles is nor quite right. If colors are to be used as the analogy, then I think it should be started from the most basic particles as the primary colors (albeit hardest to detect), then continue to the particles composed by the basic particles as secondary colors. And so on.

With all that being written, there is still an interesting thing out of this book -- the writer has lots of personal experiences related to particle physics research -- I personally think that is interesting.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was brilliantly concise. Not entirely for the layman, not entirely for the specialist. A bit of a middle ground read. I really enjoyed the logical path he took through the history of particle physics and I kind of understood his vague analogy to art. I think he is thinking of particles the way artists think of pigments. But he is not entirely clear on this and if you take the title of the book to be indicative of its content then you will find yourself very confused indeed. But it is an endearing little volume. I found it charming.

[Matthew Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history aspect of this book was helpful at creating a timeline in perspective of how things were developing over the years but failed at being a more comprehendible book about Quantum Mechanics. Highly recommend taking a quantum course before reading. Only read the book to affirm what you learned and allows you a little more advanced Quantum than your intro class.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm tempted to rate A Palette of Particles lower than three stars, but it's not all bad. It's a short book and should be considered a supplemental addition to your reading on particle physics, and not your primary resource.

What makes it interesting in places is Bernstein's recollection of personal anecdotes involving his experiences with other "big names" in 20th century physics.

[Ian Lindstrom · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covered no new ground. Not only in the context of other books I have read, but in the sense that it did not explain the theories, history, or experiments in a novel or good way.
It was a bit of a chore; very in depth in some places, flippant & chummy in others. There are better books out there, especially if you are fairly fresh to the subject.

[Matt Kuhns · Rating 2 out of 5]

Difficult to work out the audience for whom this was written. I have managed my way through a number of physics and cosmology books over the year, but this one leaped in and out of the deep end too quickly for me. It's nonetheless so breezy a review of particle physics that it seems like those capable of following everything would not really get anything from reading it.

[Hendrick Mcdonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick tour of particle physics. Gives brief introductions to topics like spin, color, charge and how these concepts lead to new particle discoveries. Also covers some of the history behind these discoveries.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for something with a little more understandable material on subatomic particles.

[Mills College Library]

539.72 B5315 2013

[Steven Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite part was the taxonomy charts in the last few chapters. Anecdotes were entertaining in an inside-baseball way. An enjoyable history lesson and whos-who of both particles and scientists.

[Iris Yu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty incomprehensible if you don't already know the material. Also found "degrees Kelvin" written on page 53, make of that what you will.