The Nobel Prize for Physics in 2004 was awarded to David Gross, David Politzer and Frank Wilczek for their discovery in 1973 of 'asymptotic freedom', the key ingredient in the underlying theory of the strong nuclear force. Journalists have had a hard time trying to explain this abstruse breakthrough to the public. Andrew Watson's book The Quantum Quark is probably not cut out for coffee-table stardom, but it is a very complete account of the ideas and experiments that led to the development of this theory and its verification. As such, it may appeal to anybody willing to take the time and make the effort to understand the basis for last year's prize.
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