The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity the Cosmos is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. Charming the Cosmic Snake takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity the Cosmos is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. Charming the Cosmic Snake takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

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In Gobekli Tepe' near Urfa, an ancient city in south-eastern Turkey, stand 11,000 year old concentric rings of old massive T shaped pillars. The carvings by prehistoric, pre-agricultural people emphasise predators, and vultures in particular are even more prominent. Archaeologists and anthropologists believe that the vultures represented the aspiration of humans to reach high into the heavens. If the scientific thought and technological output is a measure, science has been in the same pursuit along with religion or perhaps before it, even in Gobekli Tepe. While scientific topics remain at the core of human curiosity and spirituality even today, modern science has advanced tremendously, particularly over the last two centuries, leaving the general public unconnected with science. While, the public have benefited increasingly from the technological fruits of science and science has become an integral part of their life, they have been increasingly unaware that science provides real and accessible answers to personal and societal questions. In some circles, this has bred distrust of science and its process, where personal questions are concerned. To those involved closely with science, the scientific knowledge and effort are inspirational and the scientific understanding of Nature creates a sense of awe. This book attempts to give a sense of this scientific knowledge in basic science topics while providing a social and religious context. It demonstrates to the readers that science progresses with integrity in methodology and arrives at conclusions that are robust and yet open to modification. By familiarising the readers on the science discoveries in major areas, the book is intended to persuade the reader that science takes the high road to finding knowledge and therefore is to be trusted in its conclusions, when one is confronted by apparent contradictions or denials from personal, cultural and religious perspectives. Even for the section of people who are very religious, it is shown that, in most areas, religions are not against science and do not deny scientific conclusions.

In Gobekli Tepe' near Urfa, an ancient city in south-eastern Turkey, stand 11,000 year old concentric rings of old massive T shaped pillars. The carvings by prehistoric, pre-agricultural people emphasise predators, and vultures in particular are even more prominent. Archaeologists and anthropologists believe that the vultures represented the aspiration of humans to reach high into the heavens. If the scientific thought and technological output is a measure, science has been in the same pursuit along with religion or perhaps before it, even in Gobekli Tepe. While scientific topics remain at the core of human curiosity and spirituality even today, modern science has advanced tremendously, particularly over the last two centuries, leaving the general public unconnected with science. While, the public have benefited increasingly from the technological fruits of science and science has become an integral part of their life, they have been increasingly unaware that science provides real and accessible answers to personal and societal questions. In some circles, this has bred distrust of science and its process, where personal questions are concerned. To those involved closely with science, the scientific knowledge and effort are inspirational and the scientific understanding of Nature creates a sense of awe. This book attempts to give a sense of this scientific knowledge in basic science topics while providing a social and religious context. It demonstrates to the readers that science progresses with integrity in methodology and arrives at conclusions that are robust and yet open to modification. By familiarising the readers on the science discoveries in major areas, the book is intended to persuade the reader that science takes the high road to finding knowledge and therefore is to be trusted in its conclusions, when one is confronted by apparent contradictions or denials from personal, cultural and religious perspectives. Even for the section of people who are very religious, it is shown that, in most areas, religions are not against science and do not deny scientific conclusions.