Product Description
A useful scientific theory, claimed Einstein, must be explicable to any intelligent person. In Deep Down Things, experimental particle physicist Bruce Schumm has taken this dictum to heart, providing in clear, straightforward prose an elucidation of the Standard Model of particle physics—a theory that stands as one of the crowning achievements of twentieth-century science. In this one-of-a-kind book, the work of many of the past century's most notable physicists, including Einstein, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, Feynman, Gell-Mann, and Weinberg, is knit together in a thorough and accessible exposition of the revolutionary notions that underlie our current view of the fundamental nature of the physical world. Schumm, who has spent much of his life emmersed in the subatomic world, goes far beyond a mere presentation of the "building blocks" of matter, bringing to life the remarkable connection between the ivory tower world of the abstract mathematician and the day-to-day, life-enabling properties of the natural world. Schumm leaves us with an insight into the profound open questions of particle physics, setting the stage for understanding the progress the field is poised to make over the next decade or two. Introducing readers to the world of particle physics, Deep Down Things opens new realms within which are many clues to unraveling the mysteries of the universe. "Bruce Schumm's new book on elementary particle physics, Deep Down Things, is an ambitious and very successful non-mathematical description of the nature and significance of the world of elementary particles and forces. The book is for the non-mathematician, the non-scientist interested in elementary particle physics, and the young student who has not yet begun to study physics. The subjects discussed range from the wave-particle duality and basic quantum mechanical ideas, through description of the four fundamental forces, to the inner theoretical world of particle physics—symmetries and gauge theory. The book ends with an exciting discussion of what we don't know including the recently discovered mystery of neutrino oscillations." Martin Perl, Winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics "The Standard Model is one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the twentieth century. Everything around us is made of particles called quarks and leptons influencing one another by exchanging bosons. Readers who want more than a surface treatment of this modern paradigm of particle physics should turn to Bruce Schumm's fine book on the topic." Michael Riordan, author, The Hunting of the Quark

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 36 reviews)

The best book on the Standard Model I've read by Bryan J. Higgs (Milford, NH USA)

5 Stars
September 22, 2009
As others have said in their reviews, I found this the best book on the Standard Model that I've read so far -- and I've been reading quite a few. I have a Ph.D. in Particle Physics, but I earned that back in 1973, and then left the field. Recently, I retired and have regained my interest in particle physics. I've been trying to catch up with what I'd missed over the past 36 years or so. I do have a background in Math, but it's very rusty, so I haven't tried to read the heavy-duty academic books on Quantum Field Theory, although I have bought some relatively heavy-duty books on Group Theory, especially as it relates to particle physics. This book is presumably aimed at "the intelligent layman", and so does not contain any really formal Math. It does present the Shrödinger equation, and at least tries to convey that it is a partial differential equation, but does not expect the reader to deal with it at all, mathematically. I have been reading books about Lie groups, so found the explanations of those understandable. I have also been trying to understand Gauge fields/transformations/invariance, and the author makes a valiant attempt at trying to convey what is meant by that concept. I have reached the conclusion that I have to learn something about Quantum Field Theory from a mathematical standpoint before I will really understand local gauge invariance. As someone else noted, I suspect that I will also have to learn more about the mathematics of Lie groups in order to truly understand what Unitary groups are. Here's an interesting conundrum: Most books of this type try to avoid any significant Math, in order to appeal to the intelligent layman, but then they have to substitute complex explanations. It seems that this is standard publisher push to maximize sales of the book. But sometimes it seems to be counterproductive. For example, here's a sentence from Ch. 8, "Gauge Theory", p. 261 : "In addition to familiar space-time, the wave function of an object possessing some amount of both the electromagnetic and weak-interaction charges must extend, at least mathematically, into both the one complex-dimensional U(1) space of changes to the phase of the wave function, and into the two complex-dimensional SU(2) space of changes to the orientation of the object's weak isospin in weak-isospin space." Whew! Sometimes, it might be better to include some more of the Math! Predictably, Chapter 8 gets to be pretty heavy going. It is a very long chapter, and I think the author would have done better to break it up into shorter chapters (also perhaps true for other chapters), at least to give the reader an opportunity to take a break at appropriate points. Given that I have a background in particle physics (albeit rusty), and that I found that chapter heavy going, I don't know how well a typical intelligent layman with no such background would cope with it. Some of the reviews seem to indicate that they managed it, however. On the whole, this is an excellent book. Recommended!

abysmal, disorganized presentation of the standard model by Benjamin Crowell

1 Stars
August 20, 2009
I was extremely disappointed in this book. Schumm starts out with a reasonably competent popular-level presentation of some ideas from quantum mechanics, then rapidly runs off the road around page 40. I have a PhD in physics, so I can understand what he's talking about, but his big problem is that whenever he doesn't know how to present an idea without an inappropriate level of math for his audience, he just goes ahead and uses the inappropriate level of math anyway. For example, "the factor Psi(t) describing the time (t) dependence is rather simple: Psi(t)=e^-iaEt ... We don't need to know what it means to have an imaginary number as an exponent..." Yeesh. If he's not going to explain what a complex exponential is, he shouldn't notate it as a complex exponential. There are plenty of other ways to get the same concept across, e.g., by describing a line segment sweeping out a circle, with the angle proportional to the product aEt. The whole book is like this. The book's organization is also terrible. For example, he starts talking about Lie algebras on p. 95, but never gets around to saying what one is until after page 139. Too often he uses a series of historical facts as his backbone structure, at the cost of logical structure. Many names of people and technical terms (Proca equation, ...) are thrown in for no particular reason. Laypeople seem to be genuinely desperate for accessible explanations of topics like particle physics, string theory, relativity, quantum gravity, etc. -- so desperate that they'll buy truly incompetent popularizations like this one.

Best Quantum Physics book I've ever read. by Charles M. Hofmann (Northumberland, PA)

5 Stars
May 16, 2009
This is the first Quantum Physics book that was able to clearly explain Gauge Theory to me. I now wonder why other authors made it so difficult!

Excellent description of Standard Model details by Sturmey Archer

4 Stars
March 28, 2009
Schumm displays a skill in writing that is truly exceptional for a scientist and he does a terrific job of describing the concepts behind the Standard Model. The treatment of Gauge theory and Lie groups is especially well done. However, I don't believe I would consider this book a good introduction to the Standard Model. Its strength is in the way it describes the principles behind the Standard Model, not in introducing the lay person to it. That's not necessarily a criticism of the book, but I think this book is intended for a lay person who is already familiar with the Standard Model and wants learn more about the details within it. The one criticism I do have is that the goal of the book isn't clear enough. The specific objective of the book is mentioned in pieces throughout the text. As a result, I was a bit surprised the payoff at the end of the book was not an "aha, here's the Standard Model". Instead, it's "so there are some of the details of the Standard Model". Schumm mentions the difficulty he had in getting this book published, and I suspect that might be why. I believe there is still a need for a book out there which introduces the reader to the Standard Model at the Scientific American level plus goes into the detail Schumm does here. In summary, if you're already familiar with the basic concepts of the Standard Model and want to learn more about the details, this is an excellent book for you.

The Standard Model for not too dummies by B. Style

5 Stars
February 14, 2009
It's difficult to find quasi-layman writing about the Standard Model, but here it is. The first few hundred pages are the setup -- various aspects of relativity and quantum mechanics and especially group thoery. It really helps to have prior background in classic and modern physics and some engineering-level math -- but not absolutely essential for a partial understanding. The rather long payoff chapter is gauge theory, with a last chapter covering the Higgs field to tie it all together. Very readable -- this is one of my favorite books. There's quite a bit here though, and it must be read carefully and deliberately to get the most out of it -- not the sort of book you breeze through (at least not for me) and suddenly you have a basic understanding of the Standard Model -- no book can assomplish that easily.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe by Leon M. Lederman (Author), Christopher T. Hill (Author) When scientists peer through a telescope at the distant stars in outer space or use a particle-accelerator to analyze the smallest components of matter, they discover that the same laws of physics govern the whole universe at all times and all places. Physicists call the eternal, ubiquitous constancy of the laws of physics symmetry. Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman and physicist Christopher T. Hill explain the supremely elegant concept of symmetry and all its profound ramifications...
	The Theory of Almost Everything: The Standard Model, the Unsung Triumph of Modern Physics by Robert Oerter (Author) For fans of Brian Greene and Stephen Hawking, a guide to the most important theory in modern physics, in a tour de force of science writing There are two scientific theories that, taken together, explain the entire universe. The first, which describes the force of gravity, is widely known: Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. But the theory that explains everything else—the Standard Model of Elementary Particles—is virtually unknown among the general public. ...
	The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? by Leon Lederman (Author), Dick Teresi (Author) In this extraordinarily accessible and enormously witty book, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman guides us on a fascinating tour of the history of particle physics. The book takes us from the Greeks' earliest scientific observations through Einstein and beyond in an inspiring celebration of human curiosity. It ends with the quest for the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe. With a new...
	Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close (Author) In Particles: A Very Short Introduction, best-selling author Frank Close provides a compelling and lively introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe. The book begins with a guide to what matter is made up of and how it evolved, and goes on to describe the fascinating and cutting-edge techniques used to study it. The author discusses particles such as quarks, electrons, and the neutrino, and exotic matter and antimatter. He also investigates the forces of nature,...
	An Introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics by W. N. Cottingham (Author), D. A. Greenwood (Author) The new edition of this introductory graduate textbook provides a concise but accessible introduction to the Standard Model. It has been updated to account for the successes of the theory of strong interactions, and the observations on matter-antimatter asymmetry. It has become clear that neutrinos are not mass-less, and this book gives a coherent presentation of the phenomena and the theory that describes them. It includes an account of progress in the theory of strong interactions and of...