August 31, 2005

A Short Introduction

I've just finished reading "Design: A Very Short Introduction". There are several hundred books in the "A Very Short Introduction" series which is published by Oxford University Press. I'm just starting to read "Particle Physics: A Short Introduction".

Each book is small enough to fit in your pocket and is about 130 pages long. They're really well written and take you through the breadth of the subject. It's a great way of becoming familiar with a topic without having to devote a large amount of time to studying it. Now when I talk with a graphic designer, a product designer or an experience designer, I will have a rough idea of what they do.

I've just learned that a guy named Peter Higgs derived the theory of the Higgs field and the Higgs bozon. I know Pete Higgs, he also does carpentry work for us in Eastbourne. Anyway, when they get the Large Hadron Collider operating in 2007, they'll be creating conditions similar to those at million millionth of a second after the Big Bang. The temperature at that time was 10,000,000,000,000,000 degrees. Under similar conditions, they're hoping to catch sight of a Higgs bozon. This will be happening at CERN in Geneva, so don't go on vacation to Switzerland in 2007.