Atom: Journey Across the Subatomic Cosmos

It takes our best science writers, plus readers current with the whimsical new language of particle physics, to keep up with the leapfrog pace of theory and observation today. Fortunately, Asimov does his part in this report on recent theoretical physics developments that includes just enough history to add human dimension to the latest discussions of the nature of matter. Missing here are the characteristic Asimov metaphors and asides, suggesting that, while juggling so many pure concepts at once, he chooses not to distract his readers. No matter, they will welcome this straightforward guide to the Alice-like world of down-quarks, muons, leptons and other subatomic particles--most of which are believed to exist but have not yet been seen. When information does start coming in from the supercollider, this will be a worthy book to have at hand. (Apr.)