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Space Oddities review: A lively insider account of particle physics

CERN scientist Harry Cliff takes us to the heart of developments in cosmology and particle physics in his engaging, accessible guide

By Anna Demming

27 March 2024

CDF particle detector at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) near Chicago, USA. The CDF (Collider Detector Facility) records subatomic particles created in high-energy proton-antiproton collisions in the Tevatron coll- ider. It co-discovered the top quark in 1994. Here the detector is partly disassembled between operation runs. The black segments (left) are part of the outer muon chambers. The red areas are part of the magnet which bends charged particles travelling out from the collision point. The blue segments (right) are part of the hadron calorimeter. When in use these parts are closed tightly together. Photographed in 1998. The physicist is ROB ROSER.

The Collider Detector at Fermilab in Illinois, setting up for more discoveries

DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Space Oddities
Harry Cliff (Picador)

A BALLOON the size of a football stadium hovering over an Antarctic ice sheet. A Zoom screen of researchers awaiting a big reveal. A lone researcher caught up in covid-19 restrictions, holding a slip of folded paper up to a webcam…

The vivid opening sequences of Space Oddities: The mysterious anomalies challenging our understanding of the universe give glimpses into what proves to be a cracking tale of particle physics and cosmology. The…

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