Inquisitive Manchester minds will get the chance to journey inside the largest and most controversial experiment ever conducted next month.
The Collider exhibition, which is set to open on May 23, promises to take visitors on a unique behind-the-scenes tour of the Geneva research facility CERN and step inside the experiment which recreated the so-called ‘God Particle’.
Following a hugely successful run in London, the exhibition will stay at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry until September before continuing on its international tour.
Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, Jeff Forshaw, said it was appropriate the exhibition visits the city as it is the birthplace of modern particle physics.
“I think it’s terrific. It’s different from any other exhibition I’ve seen,” he said.
“It’s not aimed at experts; there is a lot of material to look at on different levels.
“It succeeds at reaching out to people with different understandings and is a great opportunity to learn something important about how the world works.”
The MOSI exhibition promises to take visitors behind the scenes to witness the uncovering of the Higgs boson, explore the 27km collider and its cathedral-sized detector caverns.
“It really does give the general public an idea of what scientists are doing and encourages them to feel the same excitement we do,” he said.
“It’s a bit like going to CERN. Not a lot of people have the opportunity to go there but this exhibition is a real taste of what it’s like.”
Jeff became a Professor at the age of 36, having achieved a First from Oxford and a PhD in Theoretical Physics at Manchester.
He has collaborated on science books with Professor Brian Cox including Why Does E-mc2? And The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen.
The pair met in 1989 when Brian was studying at The University of Manchester and Jeff was lecturing and they both now teach undergraduates together. They are also working on a third book set for release next year.
The MOSI exhibition runs daily between May 23 and September 28 2014.
Picture courtesy of CERN via Flickr, with thanks
