Today I collected in my mailbox the hefty "Review of Particle Physics", the publication of the Particle Data Group which contains a summary of everything we know about subatomic particles. For the first time, the publisher is a Chinese journal: Chinese Physics C. This might be considered a detail, but it is a sign of times: China has been increasing its involvement in fundamental physics research in the last decade, and it may well become the leading country in this business in the future.
The book is a 1700 page brick which no human will ever read from cover to cover: the bulk of it is a listing of all the measured properties of subatomic particles. But the first third of the publication is a invaluable guide to the field, with 50 review chapters on topics ranging from the nuclear properties of materials, to theoretical descriptions of the standard model and related areas, to astrophysics and cosmology (there's a full section on dark matter, e.g.), to experimental methods at colliders, and mathematical tools. If I had to suggest a book to substitute the bible for the drawer next to your bed in hotel rooms, I'd pick the RPP. There's so much science in it, it's simply awesome.
This year I am also particularly happy to browse the RPP since I contributed to it - I acted as a reviewer of Glen Cowan's revision of the two chapters on Probability and Statistics.
And did I mention that the book smells great ? Good job, Chinese guys! (Yes, I'm a book sniffer...)
At this point I guess several of you might be wondering how to get a hold of the book. I think you can order it for free if you have a University affiliation of some kind. Or you can visit the web page of the PDG, where you have free access to all the material. Enjoy!
