Accelerators are wonderful tools at the service of science and society and they deserve to be better known by the general public. This is what inspired Phu Anh Phi Nghiem to write the book “Accelerators, humankind and the Universe” which contains, in the words of the author, “a reflection on the physics of accelerators… and the nature of Nature.”
Phu Anh Phi Nghiem is a distinguished scientist from the EuPRAXIA collaboration at Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), where he conducts scientific research in the fields of plasma physics, astrophysics and accelerator physics.
The book, originally published in French by EDP-Sciences in 2023, has now been translated into Spanish and English. The bilingual English – Spanish version has just been published by Editorial Universidad de Granada – Spain.
Phi says, “Particle accelerators deserve to be better known by each one of us, citizens, and protagonists of the future of our countries and our societies. And this can only be achieved by striving to go beyond scientific language -which is universal, but flooded with a jargon that only specialists can understand- to get as close as possi¬ble to common, local and, therefore, polysemic speech, a speech that is nevertheless understood by a greater number of people and even capa¬ble of making them “feel”. Hence the importance of reporting scientific achievements in the vernacular of each country.”
In eleven short chapters, beautifully illustrated by Mara-Flore Dubois, the book gives an overview of the science and applications of particle accelerators, with an accessible language and engaging style. In this book, Phi does not shy away from dwelling into the most personal and human aspects of scientific research, trying to provide an answer to perhaps the most profound question that a layperson can ask a scientist, “Why do you do what you do?”
The book can be accessed here:
Reference:
Los aceleradores, la humanidad y el Universo – Accelerators, humankind, and the Universe. Phu Anh Phi Nghiem. Editorial Universidad de Granada, Spain (2024)
Comments