Monday, July 09, 2012

The God Particle


God Particle, God Particle, God Particle. There, I said it three times, so I suppose I now know what this means. Nope. I bet you don't either, even though the news in every format has been inundated with God Particle talk. The folks at the Large Hadron Collider (how cool is that name?) tell us that they are quite sure that they have found a Higgs boson which is different my friends from the regular boson we all know and love. Here is an explanation in our terms:
The Higgs boson has been labelled the "God particle" in the mainstream media because of the fundamental questions it could answer about matter and the creation of the universe, and although most physicists avoid using the term, they do agree that the Higgs boson plays a key role in what is known as the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes the particles from which everything in the universe is made and how they interact.
When a crowd of physicists gathered to hear the announcement they gave the Higgs boson a standing ovation. They were not looking to the Deity in supplication and praise, as the photo above might suggest. In fact, God really doesn't have anything to do with this, at least not from their perspective. Isn't it interesting though that so often when unified theories are posited or broad spectrum discoveries are made, God is invoked.
Why do you think this is? Do you have a clue about the Higgs boson? Are you wishing you paid more attention in physics class? Do you figure God is bemused or amused?

9 comments:

IanD said...

Interesting. It's so over my head it's not even funny, but it's interesting!

Laurie said...

It got called "the God Particle" in part because, a book was being written about the particle and the working title was " the goddamn particle" because the particle was so elusive. Editors thought it would sell better if they took out the "damn".

Kathy said...

The particle is the key to understanding the "bang" in the Big Bang theory. It's the original source of energy.

Not Alone said...

I think God would be indifferent but aware. This 'particle' has nothing to do with God other than the association brought on by the book.

My understanding from a very simple perspective is... The Higgs boson particle has been elusive in that once an atom is split, all the particles detected did not add up to the weight of the original atom... Something was missing and not being detectable it was referred to as the invisible 'glue' that held it all together...an unseen mass.

Strange that we associate what we don't understand as being magical, mystical, spiritual, yet when we understand it we label it and refer to it as science. I consider God as the master scientist...the Creator!

Perhaps God is a bit bemused...like a parent watching his/her child discover a butterfly emerging from a cocoon or a tadpole turning into a frog... But in this case God is in control Whatever we label these facets of science, God is still behind it all and that is why we sing praises to Him. I am sure some of those scientists in the photo prayed and thanked God that day.

sjd said...

I'm sure God had a little giggle, and is thinking "If you think that's cool wait until I let you see the next thing"

Ron Krumpos said...

The term "God Particle" came from the book "The God Particle / If the Universe is the Answer, What is the Question?," by Leon Lederman & Dick Teresi (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jun 26, 2006), which is in the bibliography of my free ebook on comparative mysticism.

In the Preface to his book Dr. Lederman, a Nobel laureate in physics, wrote:
Now as for the title, The God Particle, my coauthor, Dick Teresi, has agreed to accept the blame. I mentioned the phrase as a joke once in a speech, and he remembered it and used it as the working title of the book. "Don't worry," he said, "no publisher ever uses the working title on the final book." The title ended up offending two groups: 1) those who believe in God and 2) those who do not. We were warmly received by those in the middle.

Laurie said...

In his 1993 book The God Particle, Nobel-prize winning physicist Leon Lederman explains how he coined the name:

This boson is so central to the state of physics today, so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter, yet to elusive, that I have given it a nickname: The God Particle. Why God Particle? Two reasons. One, the publisher wouldn't let us call it the [G--d---] Particle, though that might be a more appropriate title, given its villainous nature and the expense it is causing.

Anonymous said...

My understanding is that, like an electromegnetic field has a reaction when something interacts with it, so does the higgs field (how that works i dont fully understand). When something interacts with Higgs Field a "higgs boson" should be produced. All of those experiments were simply tring to detect that particle in a laboratory setting.

The reason for the popularity of the name as far as i can see is that the reaction which creates the higgs boson gives everything we know mass. Creating something from nothing. On a scientific level I think its cool that people associate such a monumental scientific discovery with God.

David Mundy said...

Hey, this has been fun. Thanks to everyone who gave this a whirl. You are a smart bunch.