A momentous event in the history of physics took place in Geneva a year ago tomorrow.
Edinburgh Makar Ron Butlin celebrates it and the Emeritus Edinburgh University Professor, Peter Higgs, who predicted it.
PROFESSOR HIGGS THROWS THE BIGGEST PARTY SINCE THE BIG BANG
There's been no alchemy at CERN, no sorcery, no spells –
particle acceleration only. Electron shells
stronger than our planet's gravity, crack
wide open, shatter . . . spill
their treasure trove of muons, strange and charm.
Elementary, you might have said until
Professor Higgs threw the biggest party
since the Big Bang.
4 July 2012. At last, after millions, billions,
trillions of invitations Higgs boson shows up.
Shy, elusive, but statistically there –
at this, the CERN Collider and the universe itself
become as one. Whirling atoms and the turning wheel of stars
stand integrated, revealing all Creation
in a moment's certainty, and grace.
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