Collision: Stories from the Science of CERN

Stephen Baxter · Lucy Caldwell · Margaret Drabble · Luan Goldie · Pete Kalu · Lisa Luxx · Adam Marek · Courttia Newland · Désirée Reynolds · Bidisha Mamata · Ian Watson · Steven Moffat · Connie Potter

Feb 2023 · Comma Press

About this ebook

A decade after the discovery of the Higgs Boson, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN still leads the world in the search to uncover what the universe is made of, how it was formed, and what fate may lie in store for it. If there is such a thing as a ‘cutting edge’, it surely lies 100 metres below the Swiss-French border, at the point where the beams collide.

  As part of a unique collaboration, this book pairs a team of award-winning authors with CERN physicists to explore some of the discoveries being made, through fiction. From interstellar travel using quantum tunnelling, to first contact with antimatter aliens, to a team of scientists finding themselves being systematically erased from history, these stories (and their accompanying afterwords) explore the dark matters that only physics can offer answers to. Authors include Sherlock and Dr Who writer Steven Moffat, novelist and Small Axe screenwriter Courttia Newland, Dame Margaret Drabble and SF legends Ian Watson (whose credits include the screenplay for the Spielberg's A.I.) and Stephen Baxter (winner of the Philip K Dick and John W Campbell Memorial Award).

Featuring CERN physicist and engineers: Professor Lyn Evans, Professor John Ellis, Dr Andrea Bersani, Dr Tessa Charles, Professor Gino Isidor, Professor Jens Vigen, Dr Michael Davis, Dr Carole Weydert, Dr Joe Haley, Dr Kristin Lohwasser, Dr Pete Dong, Dr Daniel Cervenkov, Dr Andrea Giammanco.