Science & Technology

Higgs: 'stop calling it the god particle'

By T.K. Randall
April 9, 2013 ·  28 comments

Image Credit: CC 2.0 Andrew A. Ranicki 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.

Source: Telegraph | Comments (28)

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