Overview
Quarks, Leptons and the Big Bang, Second Edition is a clear, readable, and self-contained introduction to particle physics and related areas of cosmology. It bridges the gap between non-technical popular accounts and textbooks for advanced students. The author concentrates on presenting the subject from the modern perspective of quarks, leptons, and the forces between them. This approach enables readers to grasp the essential concepts more easily than the traditional approach involving the complex interactions of hadrons. It then proceeds to apply these ideas to the modern theory of cosmology. Necessary background material on relativity and quantum mechanics is included but advanced mathematics is avoided.
Synopsis
Quarks, Leptons and the Big Bang, Second Edition is a clear, readable, and self-contained introduction to particle physics and related areas of cosmology. It bridges the gap between non-technical popular accounts and textbooks for advanced students. The author concentrates on presenting the subject from the modern perspective of quarks, leptons, and the forces between them. This approach enables readers to grasp the essential concepts more easily than the traditional approach involving the complex interactions of hadrons. It then proceeds to apply these ideas to the modern theory of cosmology. Necessary background material on relativity and quantum mechanics is included but advanced mathematics is avoided.
Physics Education
Jonathan Allday's clearly written and well produced Quarks, Leptons and the Big Bang will be warmly welcomed by a number of general science readers, and should also find a place in all school and college libraries...should be seriously considered as recommended supplementary reading by those university lecturers teaching specialized courses on particle physics who think that their students might benefit from a simple non-mathematical overview of the subject.