The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the universe: its make-up, its evolution and the fundamental forces that determine its operation. This work is an overview of these developments and a defense of the role of science in our lives. The author, is an expert on both particle physics (the study of the smallest objects we know of) and cosmology (the study of the largest). In this book she recounts the progress in our understanding of the universe from Galileo and Newton to Einstein and Feynman; she explores how we decide which scientific questions to study and how we go about answering them; and she examines the role of risk, creativity, uncertainty, beauty and truth in scientific thinking. Throughout, she explains the latest ideas in physics and cosmology, including the aims of the biggest and most expensive machine ever built: the Large Hadron Collider, the enormous particle accelerator situated over a 100 metres below the French-Swiss border. More than 27 kilometres in circumference, it has within it the hottest spot in the galaxy as well as the coldest and features the most powerful supercomputer system of all time. This book makes clear the biggest scientific questions we face and reveals how answering them could ultimately tell us who we are and where we came from.

Scaling Reality: What's so small to you is so large to me -- Unlocking secrets -- Living in a material world -- Looking for answers -- Scaling Matter. The magical mystery tour -- "Seeing" is believing -- The edge of the universe -- Machinery, Measurements, and Probability. One ring to rule them all -- The return of the ring -- Black holes that will devour the world -- Risky business -- Measurement and uncertainty -- The CMS and ATLAS experiments -- Identifying particles -- Modeling, Predicting, and Anticipating Results. Truth, beauty, and other scientific misconceptions -- The Higgs boson -- The world's next top model -- Bottom-up versus top-down -- Scaling the Universe. Inside out -- What's so large to you is so small to me -- Visitors from the dark side -- Roundup. Think globally and act locally.