The Charm of Strange Quarks: Mysteries and Revolutions of Particle Physics

The Charm of Strange Quarks: Mysteries and Revolutions of Particle Physics   R. Michael Barnett , Henry Mühry , and Helen R. Quinn  Springer-Verlag, New York, 2000. $39.95 (302 pp.). ISBN 0-387-98897-1

Despite the intense research that has been done in particle physics, the public remains mostly mystified by the subject. The field’s conceptual and mathematical complexity is a barrier even to individuals who are interested in particle physics but lack the skills necessary to unravel its mysteries.

We rely on K–12 education to provide citizens with the foundations of science that will enable them to understand new scientific developments. Yet physics courses at the high-school and even introductory-college levels are preoccupied with classical physics; little time is left for 20th-century physics. Most high-school physics curricula, even the National Science Education Standards (National Academy Press, 1996), do not move past atomic structure and radioactive decay, the physics of the 1930s. Until recently, textbooks included little, if any, discussion of elementary particles.

The preface to The Charm of Strange Quarks contains a clear statement of intent “to bring the excitement and a basic understanding of this fundamental topic to the public and especially to students.” In the first two-thirds of the book, the authors present the Standard Model of particle physics and related elements of cosmology. Concepts and discoveries, starting with the structure of the atom, are emphasized. Although it feels like a traditional text, this book has no questions or problem sets at the end of the chapters. Using few equations, the authors augment the main text with drawings, photographs, and boxed inserts, providing concise physics explanations or recognition of the contributors to this work. The emphasis on the work of scientists is an important feature, with the first chapter dedicated to the story of the independent discoveries of the $J / ψ$ particle by physicists working at SLAC and at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

While the mathematical complexity is absent, the book is not “light” reading. The language is sufficiently technical that a solid understanding of basic physics is essential. The history of the discoveries is presented in a coherent fashion, with clear and thorough explanations of the significance or surprise that each contributed. The interdependence of experimental and theoretical physics is accurately portrayed, with examples where each breaks new ground. The reader will be convinced that the Standard Model is not a far-fetched theory but an established framework grounded in both mathematical reasoning and experimental verification. Not only is the Standard Model well explained, but its limitations, such as its inability to predict quark masses or to unify strong and electroweak forces, are clearly stated. The relevance of particle physics to cosmological issues, and new theories addressing unresolved questions, are explored (in chapters 8 and 9) in fascinating yet readily comprehensible terms.

Although it is a thorough presentation, The Charm of Strange Quarks appears disjointed in some places, especially in chapter 3 in which flavors of quarks, discussed on page 52, are reintroduced on page 62 as if they had not been discussed previously. At times, the explanations are too short and would benefit from additional elaboration, as in the case of the explanation of quark masses on page 68. The book includes a few real-world analogies to help visualize difficult concepts, such as exchange of virtual particles during an interaction. Additional analogies would be useful.

The last third of this book is devoted to some conventional appendices, plus appendix D, an introduction to basic physics concepts as applied to particle physics. This section is less inhibited in its use of equations and quantitative concepts. It contains exercises for the reader and is clearly intended as a supplement to an introductory physics course.

The book is recommended as a supplementary text for introductory college courses or for advanced high-school courses; science teachers will find it useful for updating their knowledge in an ever-expanding field of physics research.