Neutrino Hunters

I really enjoyed learning the history and research that it took to get to the vast knowledge we have today.

So, I don't read a lot of science writing books mostly because the writing can get stale and the tone becomes monotonous; the author will repeat metaphors and facts again and again, for the sake of the untrained, unscientific, casual reader looking for something non-technical. I'm usually very wary of the sciency books I pick to read, so I usually stick to those that I know of very well, or those that come highly recommended. Then too, I can easily get bored.

Now, when you're talking about Particle Physics, it's very hard not to wax technical as the book progresses; it becomes even harder when you have to speak about the experimental aspect of it. While being technical, it is hard to hold a casual reader's interest in the material. And don't even get me started on what it is to talk about Neutrinos.

Ray Jayawardhana is an astrophysicist by trade and after this book, I'm convinced he is a very good science communicator. He has managed to chronicle the tale of the Neutrino - from its inception, all the way till its detection and the experiments that help detect Neutrinos. He weaves in the tales of the scientists involved in it, and crafts a wonderful story that is both engaging and informative.

It really is hard for me to read a science book from beginning to end if it glosses over the technical bits, especially if it is relating to physics, but this book managed to keep me engaged and I learned a lot towards the end. It is fun, after all, reading the stories behind some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in the physics community. If you really like physics, and you're not afraid of technical details, then this book is a good pick!

Fun romp through the history of the neutrino. I didn't know that the missing solar neutrino problem had been solved.