Particle Fever

All documentaries are about people. In this case, it follows six particle physicists who investigate the building blocks of matter.

Basically they fall into two categories: theorists and experimenters – each pretends to be superior to the other but in fact they have a symbiotic relationship: without the theorists the experimenters don’t know what experiments to do, without the experimenters the theorists can never truly know if they’re right.

Which brings us to the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) which is the largest machine ever built by man – and at a cost of US 9 billion dollars, one of the most expensive. Its purpose was the recreate conditions that existed moments after the big bang.

If nothing else, the fact the LHC was built in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries proves the world CAN co-operate – something we will have to do to ensure our survival. Fascinating stuff. (MMu)

3.5/5

Written by Michael Muir