The question of everything tells the story of physics through experiments. Any book on the history of science for a general audience will necessarily be something of a distortion. The question is whether the distortion is useful: does it offer a new perspective on the history of physics? While there are many things to like about the book, I found it largely contentious and unhelpful.
Review: The Question of Everything: 12 Experiments That Changed the World – Suzie Sheehy (Bloomsbury)
This is what I liked about the book: it is extremely detailed. It takes us through 12 major experiments in physics over the last century and a half.
Experiments range from the study of X-rays and the nature of light in the early 20th century, to the early development of particle accelerators to detect and study subatomic particles throughout the 20th century, culminating in the modern era of Big Science and the use of the Large Hadron Collider to find the Higgs’ Boson. They are described in a rigorous and accessible way.
Laurent Gillieron/AP
Rigor and accessibility clearly balance each other out, at least for a non-technical audience. The book handles this exchange beautifully. Complex experiments are described in a way that is easily understood.
Also well explained is the role such experiments play in pushing the frontiers of particle physics, the study of an ever-increasing variety of very small pieces of reality, including those that make up matter, such as electrons, along with the forces that bind them. .
It does so without taking the reader through the details of some imposing theories, most notably: the various quantum field theories within the standard model of particle physics.
Author Suzie Sheehy, an Australian physicist with academic appointments at Oxford and Melbourne universities, also does an amazing job of explaining the broader implications of the experiments under consideration. Sheehy is an expert in accelerator physics: the design and implementation of particle accelerators to run experiments.
Special attention is paid to spin-off technologies developed in the course of building particle accelerators, including the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as the production of radioisotopes for use in medical imaging in general.
It is well stated that the development of these technologies was not an objective of scientific research but an unpredictable by-product. A word of caution underlies much of the discussion of these technologies: industry must serve science, not the other way around.
I also loved the book’s taste for the inventiveness of the inventor. For each of the 12 experiments described, a common story unfolds: there is something we want to test but we just don’t know how to do it.
Scientists must invent new ways to manage electricity, magnetism, and more in order to carry out their experiments. Suddenly, the world of experimental particle physics feels familiar: Scientists are tinkerers, crafting new equipment the way one might invent a new kitchen utensil on the fly with a bit of duct tape and a healthy dose of optimism.
a distorted story
As noted, The Matter of Everything is an unavoidable distortion of the history of physics. One of the main distortions lies in the central premise of the book. The 12 chosen experiments belong to the field of particle physics. Whether by design or accident, the history of 20th-century physics is recast as the history of particle physics.
To say that this leaves too much out is an understatement. The standard model of particle physics is only rivaled, in rigor and experimental confirmation, by the general theory of relativity.
Read more:
Explainer: Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity
While the standard model describes the world of particles and particle interactions, general relativity describes the large-scale structure of the universe and gravity.
In the 20th century, general relativity was motivated and ultimately confirmed by a fascinating series of experiments, beginning with the ingenious interferometer experiments in the early 20th century until the detection of gravity waves in 2015.
Read more:
Gravitational Waves Discovered: Scientists Explain Why It’s So Important
The focus on experiments related to particle physics not only paints a strange picture of 20th-century physics, it also tends to cast the Standard Model in a rosy light. Because we now know that the standard model is, in a sense, incomplete. The standard model “is in conflict” with general relativity. Both theories need to be replaced.
A more balanced narrative of the history of 20th-century physics might have included a broader range of experiments. Of course, a single book cannot cover everything. But some comments should be offered on what is being left out. Otherwise, an idiosyncratic view of the history of 20th-century physics quickly turns into a contentious retelling of where “real” physics stands.
experiment and theory
Why experiments? This is a question I asked myself throughout the book. Ultimately, the answer appears to be political. The book strives to impress upon the reader the importance of experimental physics. Experiments are where the action is in science. Progress can only be made by collecting empirical data.
This focus on the experimenter as pioneer, forging a path into new scientific terrain, is at best a half-truth. The partner of the experimenter is the theoretician. Theoretical work and experimental work generally go hand in hand. Theoretical physics, however, seems to be downplayed throughout the book. This is puzzling, since theories are twice as essential to experimental work.
Image by Gordon Fraser/CERN, http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/28742), CC BY
First, theories are usually needed to generate hypotheses for experimental testing. Much experimental work tests the predictions of known theories to confirm them. There are, of course, cases where an experiment is performed and produces results that defy all known theories. But even then, it is the interplay between theory and experiment that drives science forward.
Second, theories are needed to make sense of the empirical data. A theory of some kind is usually needed to understand how a given experiment works.
The Large Hadron Collider, a huge ring of electromagnets used to accelerate particles to high speeds before bringing them together to see what they’re made of, is a good example. The experiment is so complex that understanding it requires understanding a variety of theories from different areas of science. Experimental data in vacuum are virtually insignificant. Theories provide context for experimental data.
Read more:
New Physics at the Large Hadron Collider? Scientists are excited, but it’s too early to be sure
The suppression of theoretical work in physics is part of the trick of the book. But again, the picture this conveys of 20th century physics is unrealistic. The history of 20th century physics is both a beautiful theory and an ingenious experiment. Again, it’s hard not to see the focus on experimentation as some sort of normative statement about how science should be done.
lost voices
People play an important role in the Matter of Everything. The glorious experimental machinery is set against the backdrop of hardworking and playing scientists-inventors. This focus on people is welcome. It helps humanize the history of 20th-century physics and gives the reader the feeling that they, too, could contribute to science, if only they played in the shed long enough.
That said, the book could have said more about scientists who are widely acknowledged to have been unfairly neglected in the history of their field. As the book itself acknowledges, there is, for example, a need to tell the story of women scientists.
Given this, I found the omission of Marie Curie and her daughter Irene striking. Marie and Irene go in and out of the book in various places, but their story is never told properly.
Wikimedia Commons
Read more:
Radioactive: New Marie Curie biopic inspires, but resonates hauntingly for women in science
This is particularly strange given that they were both involved in experimental work in particle physics, and one was a Nobel laureate. Ultimately, the book fails to heed its own warning, and what we are left with is a history of physics with noticeable gaps. It’s a shame as it was an opportunity to set the record straight.
Limitations
Overall, The Matter of Everything suffers from some serious limitations. It claims to be a history of 20th century physics but, at best, tells the story of experimental particle physics.
Theoretical work is lacking, as are some of the experiments dealing with gravitational work in physics. The book also has significant gaps when it comes to the scientists themselves.
Therefore, I do not recommend the book as a comprehensive history of 20th century physics. But read it if he’s interested in particle accelerators and wants to know why they’re so important to everyday life and not just big science.