On our reading list: The Particle at the End of the Universe

Sean Caroll gives an unusual disclaimer for his new book, The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads to the Edge of a New World, out yesterday: ”You should have no trouble reading and understanding it, no matter what your physics background may be.”

Carroll has long been a TED favorite because of his knack for explaining complex scientific phenomena in digestible form. So we will definitely be checking out this book, about the so-called “God Particle.” The Particle at the End of the Universe not only explains the much-hyped discovery, which is believed to be the key to understanding why mass exists and how atoms are possible in the first place, but also looks at how it took $9 billion, decades of work, and six thousand researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland to get there.

“With his trademark wit and lucidity, Carroll delivers the story of the search for the elusive Higgs boson,” writes Publishers Weekly of the book. “Carroll’s clarity and unbridled enthusiasm reveal the pure excitement of discovery as much as they illuminate the facts.”

After the jump, watch Carroll’s TED Talks.

Sean Carroll: Distant time and the hint of a multiverse
In this talk from TEDxCaltech, Carroll gives a highly entertaining look at a seemingly simple question: why does time exist?

And do not miss his two-part talk, filmed at the University of Sydney, Sean Carroll on the arrow of time (Part 1) and Sean Carroll on the arrow of time (Part 2).

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