As soon as you open this book, YOU become the protagonist!You will be catapulted to CERN, one of the most famous laboratories in the world — a real scientific wonderland of underground tunnels, massive experiments and technological marvels.You can choose to play the role of a researcher, a student or a tourist, but keep your eyes open for a threatening dinosaur... Is it coming from the nearby Jura Mountains, the same place that gave Jurassic its name?Prepare yourself for a rather bizarre adventure filled with loads of brain-tickling facts about particles and science wonders. Unfold the story, explore the unsolved mysteries of the Universe, and most importantly, have fun with the games and quizzes!Are you ready to face the huge prehistoric beast and discover the secrets of tiny particles?

This first book to critically summarize the latest achievements and emerging applications within this interdisciplinary topic focuses on one of the most important types of detectors for elementary particles and photons: resistive plate chambers (RPCs). In the first part, the outstanding, international team of authors comprehensively describes and presents the features and design of single and double-layer RPCs before covering more advanced multi-layer RPCs. The second part then focuses on the application of RPCs in high energy physics, materials science, medicine and security. Throughout, the experienced authors adopt a didactic approach, with each subject presented in a simple way, increasing in complexity step by step.

'This book could not be more timely — published after a year that saw the costliest slew of weather disasters in history along with one of the deadliest pandemic, the emergence and spread of which is linked to climate change ... This book will be a valuable resource for scientists, policy makers but also educators and especially a young generation of readers who want to be informed citizens shaping the right choices for their local communities but also as cosmopolitan citizens of the world.'Journal of Indian Physics AssociationThe signs of global warming can be seen everywhere — hotter summers, frequent heavy rains, prolonged droughts, more severe forest fires, fiercer storms (including snow storms) and cyclones, as well as melting polar ice caps. Our indiscriminate actions are raising the spectre of millions of climate refugees who are victims of battles for water, crops, fish, and so on. It is poignant that the poorer countries, that are the least equipped to face these calamities have contributed the least to global warming, but are the worst hit.Only a concerted effort from the entire world by a rapid transition to renewable, clean and green energy sources, while checking wastage, deforestation and pollution, and a genuine adjustment in lifestyles towards moderation can avert the Earth, the only habitable planet we know, from turning into a hothouse.

From the reviews: "This book is a very welcome and valuable addition to the accelerator literature. As noted by the authors, there is relatively little material in the book specifically for low-energy machines, but industrial users may still find it useful to read." Cern Courier

Describes the technology and engineering of the Large Hadron collider (LHC), one of the greatest scientific marvels of this young 21st century. This book traces the feat of its construction, written by the head scientists involved, placed into the context of the scientific goals and principles.

Antimatter is one of the most fascinating aspects of Particle Physics, and matter-antimatter annihilation the most energetic process in the universe. If they existed, everyday objects made of antimatter would look exactly like those made of ordinary matter, as would antimatter stars. We live surrounded by antimatter, since showers of matter and antimatter particles fall incessantly on the Earth's surface, some of them penetrating our buildings. Furthermore, many things around us - bananas, for example - actually emit antielectrons. This book first introduces the essentials of particle physics and the nature of particles and antiparticles. It describes the discovery of antimatter particles and explains how they are produced, where they are found, and how antistars could be spotted; it also introduces cosmic rays, particle accelerators, dark matter, dark energy and nuclear reactions in stars. The enigma of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe is discussed as are the very real applications of antimatter in hospitals, in industry and in cutting-edge research and technology, Non-specialist readers will find here a wealth of fascinating and accessible information to deepen their appreciation of antimatter.​

This book provides for the first time an insider’s view into ITER, the biggest fusion reactor in the world, which is currently being constructed in southern France. Aimed at bringing the “energy of the stars” to earth, ITER is funded by the major economic powers (China, the EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the US). Often presented as a “nuclear but green” energy source, fusion could play an important role in the future electricity supply. But as delays accumulate and budgets continue to grow, ITER is currently a star partially obscured by clouds. Will ITER save humanity by providing a clean, safe and limitless source of energy, or is it merely a political showcase of cutting-edge technology? Is ITER merely an ambitious research project and partly a PR initiative driven by some politically connected scientists? In any case, ITER has already helped spur on rival projects in the US, Canada and the UK. This book offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at this controversial project, which France snatched from Japan, and introduces them to a world of superlatives: with the largest magnets in the world, the biggest cryogenic plant and tremendous computing power, ITER is one of the most fascinating, and most international, scientific and technological endeavours of our time.

A fascinating tour of particle physics from Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman. At the root of particle physics is an invincible sense of curiosity. Leon Lederman embraces this spirit of inquiry as he moves from the Greeks' earliest scientific observations to Einstein and beyond to chart this unique arm of scientific study. His survey concludes with the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe, quarks and all--it's the dogged pursuit of this almost mystical entity that inspires Lederman's witty and accessible history.