particle accelerators

Looks at various types of crashes, including race car accidents, motorcycle-automobile collisions and how to prevent associated injuries, a skydiver whose parachute malfunctioned, the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth, and the Tevatron particle accelerator.

"An accelerator physicist's fascinating journey through the experiments that uncovered the nature of matter and made the modern world. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, many scientists believed that the project of physics was nearly complete, that there was little left to explore. But as the new century dawned, scientists with the drive to deepen their understanding began looking ever more closely at the atom, and as a result of their remarkable discoveries, physics-and the world around us-would never again be the same. When the cathode ray tube revealed the secret of X-rays, physics immediately proved itself to be a source of enormous technological innovation, enabling life-saving medical equipment, safer building construction, and stronger security measures. And with every discovery since, our expanded knowledge of the infinitesimal has also brought a corresponding change in technology"--Provided by publisher.

Examines the types, functions, and basic principles of particle accelerators, both linear and circular, and their application in the search for the basic building blocks of nature.