I must confess to having a great deal of affection for fundamental particles - electrons, protons, neutrons and their newer cousins -quarks.
Studying ‘A’-Level Physics, I was stunned by the amazing beauty and subtle complexity of the microscopic world of the atom. Surely here was evidence of a creative mind, a divine Intelligence, at work... And so began my personal journey to faith, and a life-changing encounter with the Creator himself.
Since I studied physics, scientists in their search for the Theory of Everything, and the basic building blocks of matter, have been discovering more and more 'fundamental' particles. In fact, over a hundred of them to date.
It is generally agreed that the good old simple protons and neutrons of my school days are made up of even more elementary particles known as 'quarks' (which have lovely descriptions such as 'charm', 'strange', 'bottom', 'top'). All these elementary particles that have been discovered are known collectively as 'hadrons'.
Now, can I introduce you to the Large-Hadron Super-Collider that will soon be completed at CERN in Switzerland? 'Am I bothered?' you might ask. You should be, because it is costing you and me and other taxpayers about 8 billion Euros.
But first some geek stuff...
Under the Standard Model of fundamental particles and interactions, physicists have classified 16 particles that make up all matter. But the sums don’t quite add up for the Standard Model to be true if these particles are considered alone. If only 16 particles existed, they would have no mass (don't ask...) - contradicting what we know to be true in nature.
Another particle has to give them this mass. Enter the ‘Higgs boson’, first proposed by University of Edinburgh physicist Peter Higgs and colleagues in the late 1960s. Their theory was that all particles acquire their mass through interactions with an all-pervading field, called the Higgs field, which is carried by the Higgs 'boson'. The Higgs' is so fundamentally important to the Standard Model that it has led some to dub it the "God particle"
Back to CERN then, where a 12-thousand-tonne particle detector is being buried a hundred metres underground, connected to a custom-built 27-kilometre-long circular tube, surrounded by 1600 massive magnets to keep the beams of particles going round in a circle getting faster and faster, eventually smashing into each other with huge energy (huge for a particle, that is), and hopefully splitting them into pieces.
One of the pieces will hopefully turn out to be the elusive Higgs' bosun. The monster is due to be switched on in 2008, and physicists (and taxpayers) are holding their breath, hoping the God particle will show itself at last.
Meanwhile, some scientists have been wondering if there was a chance of creating a mini- black hole, that would suck half of Switzerland into itself, but these concerns have been apparently allayed (mostly).
As for me, whether they find the God particle or not, I will never cease to be amazed at the wonderful works of the master designer, the Creator of the cosmos, and of the tiniest fundamental particle.
Oh Lord my God When I, in awesome wonder,
Consider all the works your hands have made..
Then sings my soul, my saviour God, to thee
How great thou art, how great thou art.
Read more about fundamental particles
Visit the website of CERN
Read an article at BBC online about the God particle
Read more about the large hadron-collider “Is this the answer to God, the universe and all that? Physicists plan £3bn experiment in a 20-mile long tunnel”
Look up Higgs Boson in Wikipedia
Read the book Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship by John Polkinghorne