The Telescope in the Ice

Starred review from September 11, 2017
Bowen, a physicist and writer, immerses readers deep in Antarctic ice as he offers a mesmerizing look at a development in cutting-edge astrophysics with which few people are familiar: the South Pole’s IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the “weirdest” telescope in the world. Instead of gathering data from starlight, IceCube searches for neutrinos—electrically neutral, nearly massless particles that have fascinated and frustrated physicists since they were first proposed by Wolfgang Pauli in the 1930s. As Bowen explains, astrophysicists are interested in neutrinos because they come from places that regular telescopes never see: stellar interiors, supernovae, and the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies. Bowen describes how IceCube hunts neutrinos with sensitive detectors sunk more than a mile deep in Antarctic ice. The detectors look “down” through the Earth, using it as a shield to block cosmic rays and in turn make evidence of neutrinos easier to identify in the ice. Bowen relates the story of IceCube with wry humor and enthusiasm, bringing to life the researchers, their rivalries, and their challenges, as well as the science. Infusing groundbreaking inquiry with the spirit of those who carry it out, Bowen delivers a tale that’s part educational, part inspirational, and all adventure.

October 1, 2017
An account of a telescope that "is unlike any other telescope you've ever seen or heard of, a marvel of science "buried more than a mile deep in the ice at the geographic South Pole."Occupying a cubic kilometer under the ice at the South Pole is a huge instrument dubbed one of the "seven wonders of modern astronomy." It doesn't search for light like a telescope but rather ghostly subatomic particles called neutrinos that fill the universe. In this enthusiastic account of Project IceCube, physicist Bowen (Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming, 2007, etc.) explains that nuclear reactions produce neutrinos. They gush from stars, the sun, and earthly reactors and accelerators. Billions pass harmlessly through your fingertip every second, often after passing through the Earth or across the universe. Almost nothing stops a neutrino, but the key word is "almost." An immense device operated by patient observers will occasionally detect one. All require massive shielding to keep out the far more common cosmic rays. After describing competing projects, many still in operation thousands of feet underground or deep under water, Bowen gets down to business with a hair-raising account of 20 years of misery at the South Pole as a team of physicists and engineers suffered, repeatedly failed, and eventually succeeded in drilling 60 holes a mile deep, lowering complex electronics, and letting the ice freeze around them. The instrument works; since Project IceCube's completion in 2010, a few dozen distant neutrinos have made themselves known. Bowen works hard to explain their role in the quantum mechanical world. This requires mentioning other arcane subatomic particles, but, like many popular science writers, the author spends more time delivering lively journalistic accounts of the colorful scientists involved.Readers who have forgotten college physics may not understand much about neutrinos, but they will enjoy reading about those who do.

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October 15, 2017

Bowen's (Thin Ice) marvelous tale of the development of a new kind of telescope that detects neutrinos, or subatomic particles that rarely interact with matter they pass through, tells how physicist Francis Halzen designed a telescope that pointed toward space, removing any false positive findings. Also discussed is AMANDA (Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array), a series of light detectors buried within a mile of ice at the geographic South Pole at IceCube Neutrino Observatory. As neutrinos pass through the Earth, they sometimes interact with the ice and create a charged particle that emits blue light. By tracking this light, observers can locate the neutrino and verify its existence. This book begins with an introduction of how AMANDA operates and the main players involved. Bowen then jumps back 20 years to the initial meetings for the development of AMANDA, the engineering it took to build, and the trials and failures of the entire project. VERDICT Concluding with a helpful list of acronyms, this useful reference work belongs in any physics and astronomy collection.--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

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