9
The Standard Model of Fundamental Particles
“Who ordered that?” – a quote attributed to physicist, I. I. Rabi, on hearing
of the discovery of the muon, a particle that nobody wanted.
9.1 Alice in Nanoland
Ever since her visit to Gödel-land, Alice had been restless, and
unable to concentrate on her school lessons. She pined for
another dose of similar excitement, so much so that her mother
became concerned for her health, and decided to take her on a
visit to Aunt Elspeth, the white witch of the nor’-nor’-east.
Elspeth examined her niece closely, and then reached for two
bottles of pills. “Alice has my blood”, she explained. “She will
never be satisfied with the humdrum. She craves adventure.”
“But she’s only a child,” objected Marigold, Alice’s mother.
“These red pills will make her shrink, so that everything
around appears different. I mean, really shrink! An ant will look
as big as a dinosaur, and will be just as dangerous. It’s totally
awesome. But be careful.”
“She’s too little for anything like that.”
“The green pills will bring her back to normal size.”
“Elspeth, you’re not listening to me.”
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_9
163
The Standard Model of Fundamental Particles
“Who ordered that?” – a quote attributed to physicist, I. I. Rabi, on hearing
of the discovery of the muon, a particle that nobody wanted.
9.1 Alice in Nanoland
Ever since her visit to Gödel-land, Alice had been restless, and
unable to concentrate on her school lessons. She pined for
another dose of similar excitement, so much so that her mother
became concerned for her health, and decided to take her on a
visit to Aunt Elspeth, the white witch of the nor’-nor’-east.
Elspeth examined her niece closely, and then reached for two
bottles of pills. “Alice has my blood”, she explained. “She will
never be satisfied with the humdrum. She craves adventure.”
“But she’s only a child,” objected Marigold, Alice’s mother.
“These red pills will make her shrink, so that everything
around appears different. I mean, really shrink! An ant will look
as big as a dinosaur, and will be just as dangerous. It’s totally
awesome. But be careful.”
“She’s too little for anything like that.”
“The green pills will bring her back to normal size.”
“Elspeth, you’re not listening to me.”
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_9
163