Science & Technology
Higgs: 'stop calling it the god particle'
By
T.K. RandallApril 9, 2013 ·
28 comments
Image Credit: CC 2.0 Andrew A. Ranicki
The scientist behind the Higgs boson has called for people to stop calling it the God particle.
Professor Peter Higgs is credited with predicting the existence of the particle in 1964 and following its discovery became a worldwide celebrity. One thing he still has a problem with however is the use of the term "God particle" to reference the Higgs boson. "First of all, I'm an atheist," he said during a recent BBC interview. "The second thing is I know that name was a kind of joke and not a very good one."
The term "God particle" was first suggested by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman in a book in which he wrote - "This boson is so central to the state of physics today, so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter, yet so elusive, that I have given it a nickname: the God particle." The Higgs Boson was thereafter referred to as the God particle both by scientists and in the media, much to Professor Higgs' dismay.[!gad]Professor Peter Higgs is credited with predicting the existence of the particle in 1964 and following its discovery became a worldwide celebrity. One thing he still has a problem with however is the use of the term "God particle" to reference the Higgs boson. "First of all, I'm an atheist," he said during a recent BBC interview. "The second thing is I know that name was a kind of joke and not a very good one."
The term "God particle" was first suggested by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman in a book in which he wrote - "This boson is so central to the state of physics today, so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter, yet so elusive, that I have given it a nickname: the God particle." The Higgs Boson was thereafter referred to as the God particle both by scientists and in the media, much to Professor Higgs' dismay.
The 83-year-old scientist, who lives in Edinburgh, insisted the reference was not funny and was actually misleading. He came up with the theory of a subatomic particle, since dubbed the Higgs boson, which would explain the mystery of how things have mass.
Source:
Telegraph |
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