Present at the Creation
Discovering the Higgs Boson
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
LIMITED TIME OFFER
Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.
Present at the Creation
Narrated by:
Byron Wagner
Buy Now for £12.99
-
Narrated by:
-
Byron Wagner
-
By:
-
Amir D. Aczel
About this listen
In telling the story of what is perhaps the most anticipated experiment in the history of science, Amir D. Aczel takes us inside the control rooms at CERN at key moments when an international team of top researchers begins to discover whether this multibillion-euro investment will fulfill its spectacular promise. Through the eyes and words of the men and women who conceived and built CERN and the LHC—and with the same clarity and depth of knowledge he demonstrated in the bestselling Fermat’s Last Theorem—Aczel enriches all of us with a firm grounding in the scientific concepts we will need to appreciate the discoveries that will almost certainly spring forth when the full power of this great machine is finally unleashed.
Will the Higgs boson make its breathlessly awaited appearance, confirming at last the Standard Model of particles and their interactions that is among the great theoretical achievements of twentieth-century physics? Will the hidden dimensions posited by string theory be revealed? Will we at last identify the nature of the dark matter that makes up more than 90 percent of the cosmos? With Present at the Creation, written by one of today’s finest popular interpreters of basic science, we can all follow the progress of an experiment that promises to greatly satisfy the curiosity of anyone who ever concurred with Einstein when he said, “I want to know God’s thoughts—the rest is details.”
Listeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"A fascinating discussion of research at the cutting-edge of physics."--Arthur I. Miller, author of Deciphering the Cosmic Number
The history of CERN is a theme that runs throughout the book, as the author covers the advances and leaves this listener feeling like I understand the complexities at least at a basic level.
I found this very engaging and engrossing and I can return to the book repeatedly and each time learn some nothing new.
Excellent book on science
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The subject matter is fascinating and although there are some odd places where things are suddenly glossed over for no apparent reason the writing is detailed while being easy to understand. I am sure that it is well researched and the descriptions of the places and people are engaging and interesting.
Unfortunately the strong, almost overpowering accent of the narrator is intrusive and unpleasant to listen to, and his inability to pronounce quite a few important technical words correctly is irritiating to the point of distraction. Added to this is the tone with which he reads - it is as if he is constantly surprised by what he is reading, with a note of amazement in his voice about things which are not even slightly surprising, something which detracts from the listener's ability to grasp the sometimes complex concepts that he is reading about. He also has a tone which at times becomes rather patronising, almost like a television programme for very small children, and again this is so overpowering that it detracts from the clarity of the text.
If the book had been read by somebody who gave the impression of understanding the subject, with a grasp of correct pronounciation and with a less overpowering accent it would probably have been a really excellent listen, but I am afraid that I am unlikely ever to finish it in this form. A great shame.
Excellent book, ruined by the narrator
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.