Emeritus Fellow Professor Frank Close publishes Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass

Professor Frank Close, Exeter College Emeritus Fellow in Physics, is due to publish his latest book, Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass, with Allen Lane on 7 July.

The book is a biographical history of the Higgs Boson particle, published on the 10th anniversary of its discovery, which charts the pivotal role of Higgs’ discovery in 20th century physics, particularly in the evolution of the ‘standard model’ of particles and forces.

Peter Higgs first proposed his theory that an almost infinitely tiny particle was the key to understanding why particles have mass, and but for which atoms and molecules could not exist, in 1964, and the discovery was confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva in July 2012. The following year, Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Higgs remains the only person ever to have a single particle named after them, and Professor Close’s book explores why this is the case, given that there were many others involved in the process of the breakthrough. The book also draws on conversations with Higgs, who remains an elusive figure, over a decade.

Professor Close is the author of over twenty books on science, the latest of which was Trinity: The Treachery and Pursuit of the Most Dangerous Spy in History (Penguin, 2020).

For more information on Elusive and to order a copy click here. In the USA Elusive is published by Basic Books and is available to purchase now.