Article December 22, 2008 Issue

Looking for the 'God particle'—or for Spirit?

BY DAVID A. CORNELL

LOCATED UNDERGROUND at the French-Swiss border, the Large Hadron Collider is a 17-mile, circular underground tunnel whose purpose is to recreate conditions after the "Big Bang," which scientists believe created the universe. Like the International Space Station, another multinational collaboration costing billions of dollars, the LHC makes many people wonder how it helps life on Earth. An electrical failure stopped the first test last September, but the machine is due for restart in the spring of 2009. The pause in its operation offers an opportunity to reflect on its purpose and how it can benefit society.

The research is driven by the pump of all scientific inquiry—childlike curiosity. "Why," "how," and "what" are questions that motivate us from childhood. Specifically, designers of the LHC hope it will unveil a new particle that will fill a missing link in current theories of particle physics. The anticipated particle is called the Higgs boson, after Peter Higgs, a noted particle physicist. What makes the Higgs boson so interesting to scientists? Basically, the particle is supposed to reveal the mystery of why all material things have weight or mass, and how much. So basic and fundamental is the concept of mass to natural science that finding an answer has been likened to knowing the unknowable. One is tempted to think that knowing the unknowable might be like knowing God—hence, the particle's nickname, the "God particle."

Let's think for a minute about the meaning of the word science. Derived from the Latin word scientia (having knowledge), it's not limited to one field or another. There can be a science of particles or a science of theology. Famous physicist Albert Einstein regarded man's ability to contemplate his universe as a defining quality. And he regarded scientific understanding with a reverence that to him was like hearing the voice of God.