This book provides a comprehensive overview of modern particle physics accessible to anyone with a true passion for wanting to know how the universe works. We are introduced to the known particles of the world we live in. An elegant explanation of quantum mechanics and relativity paves the way for an understanding of the laws that govern particle physics. These laws are put into action in the world of accelerators, colliders and detectors found at institutions such as CERN and Fermilab that are in the forefront of technical innovation. Real world and theory meet using Feynman diagrams to solve the problems of infinities and deduce the need for the Higgs boson.

Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics offers an incredible insight from an eyewitness and participant in some of the greatest discoveries in 20th century science. From Einstein’s theory of relativity to the spectacular discovery of the Higgs particle, this book will fascinate and educate anyone interested in the world of quarks, leptons and gauge theories.

This book also contains many thumbnail sketches of particle physics personalities, including contemporaries as seen through the eyes of the author. Illustrated with pictures, these candid sketches present rare, perceptive views of the characters that populate the field.

Martinus Veltman, born in 1931 in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, studied at the University of Utrecht. He started as a fellow at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, and later became Professor of Theoretical Physics in Utrecht. Together with his then student ‘t Hooft he developed the mathematical implementation of gauge theories. In 1977 he deduced an equation that allowed a prediction of the mass of the top quark. In 1981 he accepted a position at the University of Michigan. After retirement he moved back to the Netherlands. The top quark with a mass as predicted was found at Fermilab in 1995, and in 1999 ‘t Hooft and Veltman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, “for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics”.

“Veltman’s life spans the history of particle physics, from Antiparticles to Z bosons. So does his crystal clear book, which tells all you want to know about the strange sub-nuclear world and the stranger scientists that study it … a thrilling tale about the world’s tiniest things.”

Sheldon Glashow

Nobel laureate

Boston University

“I must congratulate you! The book you have written is truly a masterpiece. Not only have you explained the physics of the world of elementary particles to the young aspiring student, but you have made it available to the intelligent layman. On top of that you gave it the humanity it deserves; reading this book brought me back to the most exciting period of my life in which every day brought a new discovery and we all fought for recognition. I can truly say that there is no book like this.”

Melvin Schwartz

Nobel laureate

Columbia University