Jon ButterworthAtom Land: A Guided Tour Through the Strange (and Impossibly Small) World of Particle Physics

I was a bit leery about this title at first. I have a working knowledge of physics and a reasonably broad understanding of the fundamentals of quantum physics. But, more and deeper understanding is always better, and it's one thing to sort of understand what you're reading and quite another to truly comprehend what you just read or at least to extend your reach. So, this book looked interesting - except for the come on -- "Readers will sail the subatomic seas in search of electron ports, boson continents, and hadron islands. The sea itself is the quantum field, complete with waves." Really?Well, guess what. Dr. Butterworth makes this work. Our ship, (the particle), sails through the ocean, (making and encountering waves), and I'll be darned if the author doesn't turn this into the clearest, crispest, and most illuminating discussion of particle/wave issues that I've ever read.For example, Butterworth describes the behavior of waves as they pass through a channel and enter a harbor. We learn about amplitude, frequency, and wavelength by watching seagulls bob up and down. We learn about diffraction by watching the wave spread out after exiting the channel and we learn about interference by watching two sets of waves cancel each other out. We then turn to the famous double slit experiment and see every single one of these principles and observations born out by the experiment, although this time our waves are made of light. The point is stunningly and memorably clear. But then we play around with frequency and energy and thus begin to understand the particle aspects of light. From there we use the ocean as a metaphor for the "quantum field", and that becomes clear as well.At this point, even if you don't follow another word in the book, you will have begun to understand how quantum field theory "incorporates particle-like and wave-like properties into a new kind of object". You will begin to understand Feynman's "path integral", at which point you will be so pleased with yourself that you'll have to take a break and have a cup of tea just to calm down. And really, you've just started your journey. (O.K., so maybe that travel metaphor does work.)Everything beyond this point is bonus time if you're a casual but motivated science reader. And to be honest, at some point before the end the reader's understanding may top out. (Don't test me on supersymmetry.) But before that we will learn about electrons, neutrons and protons, about why Dirac equations are so important, about bosons and fermions, muons, leptons, matter and anti-matter, hadrons and quarks. You'll learn about quantum chromodynamics and gluons, and how does gravity fit into all of this? For these topics we don't really rely on the ocean/atomland travel metaphor anymore, except as a generally useful way to introduce and organize topics, but the whole "atom land" frame doesn't get in the way either, so if it helps the reader more power to it.My larger point is that this is one of the most useful, accessible, engaging, non-jargony, effective and yet modest teaching books I've seen. No celebrity scientist preening and no metaphysical blarney. This is a calm, earnest, patient, and authentically good natured effort to open the reader's mind. It was a tremendous and rewarding find.(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Perfect for a 12 year olds.

Be aware that this book is actually the exact same as the book A Map of the Invisible!! I dont know why its titles been changed. I hope its not to catch people out so plz make sure you dont waste money and buy both titles. Could be perhaps some text has been added but theres only 6 months between release dates.The book is very good though and im just letting ppl know what they are buying.

Jon does a great job explaining particle physics using relatable examples. I wish I had read this book before all the other books on quantum physics I have attempted. This book is the best overview that explains WHY and HOW we know what we know using analogies that are easy to remember. I highly recommend it.

Este livro é excessivamente complexo para quem não tem muitos conhecimentos de física de partículas, justamente o seu público alvo, mas também não atende um leitor com mais noção por ser bastante superficial.

An enjoyable journey via analogy. As with all journeys, preconceptions vanish when directly exposed to the landscape, and the "creatures" that reside within. Additionally, (we) pass quickly through various scenes, observing but with little time for great detail.This is a directed journey focused on the Standard Model, with potential "side trips" kept to a minimum. Time (book length) constraints passed over facts and concepts perhaps too quickly, leaving areas of potential confusion.The author did excellent work in attempting to build a 2-dimensional analogy from what we currently know/assume/have evidence of, and is most certainly at least 4-dimensional in nature. In particular, I enjoyed the book's ending synopsis and speculations. I would have enjoyed further delving into areas such as further aspects of the double-slit experiment, quantum entanglement, and the like, but realize the constraints that the author stayed within.Recommended reading -- educational, and provides the opportunity to view "reality" in a different perspective...

Well written but has to be read slowly to comprehend the information.

As a general, up-to-date overview of particle physics, I would have given this book four stars, because that's what I was looking for, and that's what the book delivered, for the most part. I would not have given it five stars, though, because I found the explanations of several phenomena unsatisfying (such as "How could there possibly be a 'massless particle'?" or "What causes a positive or negative charge to exist?"). That said, I realize I must allow for the fact that either the answers to such questions are still unknown or, if they are known, they would require more than a layperson's knowledge of math or physics to appreciate. I bought the book because I expected that the metaphor of a map would help me visualize what is happening at the atomic and sub-atomic scale, but the reason I gave this book only three stars is that I feel the metaphor, which I found to be a little too cute, does more harm than good. My impression was that the author had to struggle to relate reality to the metaphor, and I continually had to struggle to make the connection. In my opinion, visual illustrations or diagrams could have been much more effective -- less amusing, perhaps, but more effective.