The Matter of Everything

About the book

In The Matter of Everything, Suzie Sheehy leads us through the history of the experiments that opened up matter and transformed the modern world. From cathode-ray tubes to particle accelerators, from the discovery of the electron to the Higgs boson, she shows how physics advanced not only through great theories, but through instruments built with ingenuity, persistence and curiosity.

Across twelve decisive experiments, the book reveals how what seemed invisible — particles, nuclei, quanta, neutrinos, quarks and fields — became observable through the creativity of experimental physicists. From those discoveries came technologies that now run through everyday life: X-rays, electronics, diagnostic medicine, computers, communications, accelerators, sensors and new ways of investigating the Universe.

The Matter of Everything is a journey into reality’s invisible heart: the story of how humanity learned to take matter apart, build almost impossible machines and discover within the atom not only the foundations of the cosmos, but also those of the world we live in today.