Antimatter

Antimatter explores a strange mirror world, where particles have identical yet opposite properties to those that make up the familiar matter we encounter everyday; where left becomes right, positive becomes negative; and where, should matter and antimatter meet, the two annihilate in a blinding flash of energy that makes even thermonuclear explosions look feeble by comparison. It is an idea long beloved of science-fiction stories - but here, renowned science writer Frank Close shows that the reality of antimatter is even more fascinating than the fiction itself. We know that once, antimatter and matter existed in perfect counterbalance, and that antimatter then perpetrated a vanishing act on a cosmic scale that remains one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. Today, antimatter does not exist normally, at least on Earth, but we know that it is real for scientists are now able to make small pieces of it in particle accelerators, such as that at CERN in Geneva. Looking at the remarkable prediction of antimatter and how it grew from the meeting point of relativity and quantum theory in the early 20th century, at the discovery of the first antiparticles, at cosmic rays, annihilation, antimatter bombs, and antiworlds, Close separates the facts from the fiction about antimatter, and explains how its existence can give us profound clues about the origins and structure of the universe.

ISBN 0199578877   Pages 176 ISBN13 9780199578870 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 192 Publisher Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Imprint Oxford University Press   Height (mm) 197 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 128 Publication date 07 Jan 2010   Spine width (mm) 14 DEWEY 530   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Foreword: 'Genesis'; 1. Antimatter: fact or fiction?; 2. The material world; 3. Tablets of stone; 4. A cosmic discovery; 5. Annihilation; 6. Storing antimatter; 7. The mirror universe; 8. Why is there anything at all; 9. Revelation; Appendix: The Cost of Antimatter; Appendix: 'The Dirac Code'

To miss out on books like this is to miss out on a grasp of the astounding nature of the universe, Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian This compact book is a wonderful source of information on antimatter and offers us a meticulously researched account of the nature, properties and applications of the often overlooked entities in the fantastic antiworld around us. Chemistry World

This book as a very good feel to it. Decently priced. Excellently written. Easy to understand. My current favourite book. Love it. Can't put it down. Well worth buying and reading rather than borrowing as you will want to keep dipping into it. - Dr David I. South



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