Great story, Great book.

It was a little over my head, but that's what I was hoping for. The author get very detailed about his work without getting to complicated all at once. He tells you a bit, then tells a story about something giving you time to let it sink in, then explains a bit more. All without knowing that's what he is doing until the end, if you notice at all.

The narrator was fantastic. Very well done. I could have been sitting next to the author over tea and just been listening to a story.

I greatly enjoyed the inside story at CERN, and getting to understand how the process of "proving" the Higgs is the Higgs.

14 people found this helpful

Very entertaining and even educational

I did not understand all the physics, but I really enjoyed listening to the book. The book actually made me laugh out loud at times. And it effectively describes what it's like to be an actual physicists in today's world.

The physics is hard to understand, but the life of a physicist is easy to understand and very interesting.

13 people found this helpful

Surprisingly accessible and full of personality!

I have been very interested in the Geneva LHC project. I watched a recent documentary by Jason Greenburg (I think that's his name. He's a big "super symmetry" advocator.) Unfortunately, the documentary was not focused and left me without a clue! So I've been searching books to better understand the goal and outcomes of what is possibly the biggest experiment human beings have ever conducted. I'm not from a science background, but I try to stay familiar with current science news and ideas.

In Smashing Physics, Jon Butterworth provides an excellent overview of the issues and science behind the LHC, and the search for the Higg's Boson. This guy is uncommonly talented at making complex ideas accessible to an interested lay audience!!
I was engaged and entertained throughout the book by the author and the narrator.
This is the best of the new books explaining the work done in Geneva. (At least the ones available on audio.)

Highly recommended! Narrator does an amazing job of bringing the work to life, and yet sounds like he is a serious physics guy. The accent maybe?

I will definitely look for more books by the author in the future!

21 people found this helpful

For experts only

Wonderful narrator. I will look for more of his work. Good story but very, very complex subject that the author does not simplify. However, it may not be able to bring this down to the level of a non-scientist.

8 people found this helpful

Disappointing

At it's best, there is a narrator with a pleasant accent and a coherent narrative to share. But the descriptions of the physics left me wanting, as did the explanations of the scientific method. It's not particularly thrilling to hear for the umpteenth time that we can't see the things we're looking at, but instead must infer them from a bump on a graph. In fact, the book led me to question the point of the endeavor - which is the one area where it really needs to succeed to be of general interest to non-physicists.

At its worst, the book felt like a scramble to capitalize on being at the right place in the right time. Its concept, which is ostensibly to provide a window into the exciting lives of the world's top physicists left me cold, as did the (feigned?) humility, which felt forced and inauthentic. The more strident the author's attempts to dispel the idea that he wasn't part of a good-old-boys network of academic elites, the less I was convinced.

For a more cogent description of the science itself, I highly recommend "The Higgs Boson and Beyond" by Sean Carroll (and also available from Audible). That course is shorter and far more interesting, without nearly as much ego or narcissism to get in the way.

22 people found this helpful

Both informative and entertaining

Well done indeed. The work at CERN is presented in a very approachable and engaging way, with a few laughs into the bargain. Highly enjoyable.

3 people found this helpful

Very highly technical. Not for the casual reading

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Professional nuclear physicists or those familiar with modern subatomic particle physics.

What was most disappointing about Jon Butterworth’s story?

Too technical. Filled with highly technical jargon and terms. I am a chemist by training and interested in physics. I tried to follow the best I could, but in the end, had to give up.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jonathan Keeble’s performances?

Only if directed at a less technical audience.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I really wanted to learn about modern theories of particle physics but this was way over my head.

Any additional comments?

Meant only for those highly versed in modern particle physics.

15 people found this helpful

Amazing

Very good book. For someone like me, who is only an amateur physicist it was excelente. For a real physicist or a student it must be more so .

2 people found this helpful

Quickly written for the advanced physicist

What did you like best about Smashing Physics? What did you like least?

Butterworth doesn't cater to the novice. He gets right into the details, but mixes it up with his travel experiences to keep the reader's head from exploding. Don't bother if you do not have a basic knowledge of particle physics. It's a book about the current events at LHC and will be consigned to the dustpan of history in a year or two. The author, I feel, thought this also, which is why it seems so hastily written. No Pulitzer Prize here.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I'm still waiting for the book on the engineering and technology that went into building the incredible LHC. This is a very focused writing on the search for the Higgs from a theoretician's viewpoint. There is also a lot of repetition.

How could the performance have been better?

I still can't get over how the Brits say naught point one, instead of zero point one. I had me confused for a few sub-chapters.

Was Smashing Physics worth the listening time?

If you have a knowledge of particle physics, you can lean some things. If not, you will never stand to finish this one.

12 people found this helpful

Like a Story Written by a Physicist

In spite of having a physics background, I found this book hard to follow. While the subject is fascinating, the writing isn't.

I'll have to run at this again some other time.

1 person found this helpful