Neutrino Hunters

Narrator Bronson Pinchot is well matched to this remarkably approachable account of the hunt for the elusive neutrino. Once thought to be impossible to detect, the subatomic particle has grown in importance to physicists. The author is effective in explaining the benefits of understanding the nature of neutrinos and how they may enhance our knowledge of the Big Bang, the existence of matter and antimatter, and even the potential for travel faster than light. While the topic of astrophysics research has the potential to present a challenge to any narrator, Pinchot's tone conveys a genuine interest in the topic and an eagerness to engage the listener in this unusual detective story. S.N.M. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

August 26, 2013
While the Higgs boson has dominated recent physics news, astrophysicist Jayawardhana (Strange New Worlds) directs attention toward neutrinos, the “pathologically shy” elementary particles that offer a window into supernovas and may help answer questions about antimatter, dark matter, dark energy, and the early universe. With no electric charge and very little mass, neutrinos seldom interact with matter, for the most part passing untouched through the Earth itself; detection requires looking for particles created in the wake of the scant interactions that do occur. With clarity and wry humor, Jayawardhana relates how Wolfgang Pauli “invented” the neutrino to explain where missing energy went during beta decay, then later bet a case of champagne that it would never be detected experimentally. After neutrinos were finally observed for the first time in 1956, scientists expanded the hunt from Earth to space, examining the rays emitted by the Sun. From deep underground in South Dakota’s Homestake Gold Mine to Antarctica’s IceCube, currently the world’s largest neutrino detector, Jayawardhana vividly illuminates both the particle that has “baffled and surprised” scientists, and the researchers who hunt it. Agent: John Pearce, Westwood Creative Artists.