Would you like to know how the universe works? The science that has found many of the answers to that profound and age-old question is particle physics, the study of those impossibly tiny particles with unbelievably strange names : bosons and leptons, quarks and neutrinos. Steven Pollock translates the language of the remarkable science that, in only 100 years, has unlocked the secrets of the basic forces of nature. You will become familiar with the fundamental particles that make up all matter, from the tiniest microbe to the Sun and stars. You will also learn the "rules of the game" (the forces the particles feel and the ways they interact) that underlie the workings of the universe. This course is designed to be enriching for everyone, regardless of scientific background or mathematical ability. Virtually all you will need to enjoy and benefit from it are curiosity, common sense, and "an open mind for the occasional quantum weirdness," according to Professor Pollock.
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