Citizens worldwide have tried to pronounce “Higgs Boson,” the name of the particle that glues the pieces in the puzzle of our material reality. The Higgs was found, Nobel prizes were awarded, and the discovery was both a disappointment (is there nothing more?) and a triumph (they did it!). The particle physicist Leon Lederman famously referred to the Higgs as the “Goddamn Particle,” a moniker his publisher resisted so that his book was titled “The God Particle.” Unfortunately the flourish has stuck. We prefer the original. We’ll discuss the Goddamn Particle, how it keeps every thing and our theories hanging together, and why we built a multi-billion dollar machine in Switzerland just to find it.

Scientific Controversies<br />
No. 3: The Goddamn Particle

<p>Citizens worldwide have tried to pronounce “Higgs Boson,” the name of the particle that glues the pieces in the puzzle of our material reality. The Higgs was found, Nobel prizes were awarded, and the discovery was both a disappointment (is there nothing more?) and a triumph (they did it!). The particle physicist Leon Lederman famously referred to the Higgs as the “Goddamn Particle,” a moniker his publisher resisted so that his book was titled “The God Particle.” Unfortunately the flourish has stuck. We prefer the original. We’ll discuss the Goddamn Particle, how it keeps every thing and our theories hanging together, and why we built a multi-billion dollar machine in Switzerland just to find it.</p>


No. 3<br />
The Goddamn Particle

<div>Are there Many Worlds? Does Time Exist? Are We Alone?  Hosted by Director of Sciences <a href="http://jannalevin.com/">Janna Levin</a>, the Scientific Controversies series  brings creative minds together to celebrate the passionate spirit of scientific curiosity.  Previous guests include Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek, geneticist George Church, and neuroscientist Christof Koch with subjects ranging from artificial intelligence and string theory, to dark matter, consciousness, and other unsolved scientific quandaries.</div>