What's On at the Library

If you were lazing around with the New York Times yesterday, you might have read Ray Jayawardhana's tongue-in-cheek argument that it's high time that the Higgs boson quit hogging the limelight and some serious attention was given to a tiny and elusive particle called the neutrino.

The Higgs particle has gotten itself some great publicity, says Jayawardhana: "For a measly little invisible item, whose significance cannot be explained without appealing to thorny concepts of quantum field theory, it has done pretty well for itself. The struggling starlets of Hollywood could learn a thing or two about the dark art of self-promotion from this boson."

Move Over, Higgs–It's Neutrino Time

So give the neutrino a chance already. This amazing particle, in Jayawardhana's words, "moves in mysterious ways, passing right through wood, walls and even our bodies, with nary a bump. It morphs among three forms, like a cosmic chameleon evading capture. It brings us news from the sun’s scorching heart and from the spectacular death throes of monstrous stars. It could tell us why antimatter is so rare in the universe and illuminate the inner workings of our own planet."

Ray Jayawardhana is an award-winning author and astrophysicist at the University of Toronto and he has just written a new book about the this fascinating and elusive particle, Neutrino Hunters : the Thrilling Chase for a Ghostly Particle to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe.

Mark your calendar!

Jayawardhana is also a terrific and engaging speaker and this winter he is touring the U.S. and Canada talking about his new book and giving the public a chance to meet this engaging particle up close. He's just been at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and over the next few weeks will be in Washington, D.C., Seattle, Portland and Oakland. It will be Toronto's turn in Feburary.

On Thursday, February 13, 7 pm, he will be at the Toronto Reference Library, in the atrium. As a bonus,Dr. Jayawardhana will be interviewed by Ivan Semeniuk, the Globe and Mail's science writer. Ivan Semeniuk is a well-known science journalist and in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, he was Science Journalist in Residence at U of T's Dunlap Institute. 

 If you haven't placed a hold on Neutrino Hunters : the Thrilling Chase for a Ghostly Particle to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe you should do it soon.

 This book is getting all kinds of accolades and it is in hot demand:

• Publisher's Weekly Best Science Book of the Season
• An Amazon Best Book of the Month
• “A Book to Watch Out For” in December, The New Yorker’s Page-Turner Blog
• A Los Angeles Times Gift Guide Selection
• One of the Best Physics Books of 2013, Cocktail Party Physics Blog, Scientific American

Toronto Public Library has a large number of wonderful science talks–to learn more, search for Science & Technology programs on the library's website. Many of them come from the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto. We've also run several series–on geology, evolution and science history–in partnership with U of T's Science Engagement group, which is overseen by Dr. Jayawardhana as the University President’s Senior Advisor, Science Engagement. These programs reflect the desire of both the Dunlap Institute and Science Engagement to make the work of the University's internationally renowned scientists, up-and-coming graduate students and post-docs more widely known to the public.