Particle Fever

There's a lot of talk about how important what they are doing and people congratulating each other, but they don't really explain much of anything. It's not for a lack of time as they spend too much time on long shots of the countryside or segues with meaningless background chatter. Why did they spend so much time on the kickoff party (complete with rapping physicists) when they could have delved into science a lot more? For a "science" documentary, they missed the audience. If it was meant as a human interest story centered around David Kaplan, that failed too. The scientists they spend less time on come across as smart and likable. Not so much Kaplan who barely tries to explain the importance of CERN but wants funding but doesn't want to write grant applications because people just won't understand. So, after complaining that this research needs to be funded because it is so important, Kaplan immediately talks about how his mentor will only allow three co-researchers on any experiment because he couldn't win a Nobel Prize if there were more. This of course begs the question, if the research is so important, why are you limiting the number of people in hopes that you'll win a prize? If you're doing pure research, shouldn't your personnel decisions be based on doing research, not winning prizes? Kaplan may be a very nice guy who isn't actually like this, but the clips the director shows come across that way. Overall, too little information for a science documentary and too boring for a human interest story.

Nerdgasm in "Particle Fever" Warning: Nerdy martial is contained within this review. Moreover, it's the worst kind of nerdy material, that of a non-scientist. Read at your own discretion. "Particle Fever" is a documentary about the super particle accelerator and supercollider in Cern, Switzerland that is funded and staffed by over 100 nations. Under the direction of the European Organization of Nuclear Research, it has been a thirty year project that is the center of controversy in the scientific community. The controversy is not over military application of its findings, whether the collider will create a singularity and kill us all, or who will take credit for the results. No, the controversy is something more sinister: will the Higgs particle reveal evidence for the popular supersymmetry hypothesis of the universe or the dreaded, evil multiverse hypothesis. Jobs can be lost in the flash of a proton, reputations can be ruined depending on the results, the whole universe could be at risk if we find we are part of a multiverse! Of course I exaggerate, slightly, but "Particle Fever" does a credible job in laying out the consequences of some results over others in the experiment. The main goal of the 17 miles, billion dollar collider is to reveal the Higgs particle (a fundamental particle at the center of our existence), find its weight and energy, in GeV. GeV is 1.60217657 × 10-10 joules: really, really small, the smallest particle we know of, so far. The hope is to also find out if other, smaller particles emerge when two protons collide at near light speed. You must see the movie to find out if our universe is doomed and if hundreds of theoretical scientists have lost their jobs. Their sometime arch-rivals but collaborators on this experiment, the experimental physicists, will certainly have jobs after this, unless the universe collapses and having a job is moot. The experimenters, as they would boast, actual do things with their hands and have skills. The theorists need them more than they need the theorists, they argue. The movie doesn't explain things fully; it creates more questions than answers: 1. What is a multiverse, and why would the mass and energy of the Higgs indicate we live in a multiverse? Does it have to do with stability. The nerds don't explain. 2. One theorist postulated that under certain conditions of the Higgs, the universe could disappear. However, doesn't the concept of the conservation of energy and mass preclude a disappearance of matter and thus it would be only a universal transformation of matter? He doesn't explain that for us non-theorists. 3. Two questions about reading the mass and energy of the Higgs: a. If you are creating massive energy when colliding protons to reveal the Higgs, couldn't different energy levels at the collision change the measurement of the Higgs, for mass and energy are two sides of the same particle? I assume they accounted for this in their experiment, but like elite nerds, they didn't explain it to us unenlightened lay folk. Moreover, isn't the experiment itself creating uncertainty in their reading of the particle? Wouldn't the near-light speed collision of the protons change the very nature of the Higgs particle they are measuring? They didn't explain this to us either. "Particle Fever" makes science interesting. There are true science protagonists in this movie. It focused on a few scientists, and the women scientists get a center and starring role. Their infectious obsession with their fields gave us all, "Particle Fever." Rating: Pay Full Price Peace, Tex Shelters

This is a documentary that physicists will love, as will others who really love science. It's the kind of film that carefully explains the difference between theoretical and experimental physicists. If that kind of distinction interests you, then you will like the film. A lot of physics jargon is tossed around in this film with no explanation so you need to bring a working knowledge of particle physics if you want to fully understand the discussions. If you don't know what a GeV is and that lack of knowledge is going to bother you, then you will not like this film. If you enjoy an explanation of the opposing physics theories of supersymmetry and the multiverse, then this is your film. Also, if math scares you, there are blackboards and whiteboards full of some of the hairiest equations you're likely to see. If you find such things frightening, just turn away. However, if you'd like to meet people who have staked 10, 20, 30, even 40 years of their career on the moment when the ATLAS team finally announced "We've got it!", then this film is for you. This film paints an accurate though relatively lightweight picture of the years spent making the world's largest machine, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), operational and then confirming the existence of the Higgs boson 40 years after it was predicted in theory. It's exciting to see scores of smart people stretching their brains to the limit so that they can understand something truly fundamental about the universe. Although billions of particles were smashed in the LHC experiments needed to confirm the Higgs, you will mostly see calm scenes of crops growing in the LHC's vicinity. There are no car chases or crashes, no battling giant robots, no aliens. There are just lots of smart people saying highly intelligent things, most of the time. When they drop into small talk or take time out to brew an espresso, it's actually jarring. (At least it was to me.) About the audience: There were about 40 people in the movie showing I attended on a Sunday afternoon. Every single one of them looked like they had an advanced degree in physics or some other hard science. Indeed, that's who this movie is made for.

This documentary contained interesting information, but as a film it rather fails. It doesn't really make enough use of the strong visuals of this massive machine, and there's a bit too much of the video blog type content with some protagonists being terrifyingly large with their features taking up the full height of the screen. Poor resolution was evident at some points, as were out of focus subjects - this was distracting at a time when one should be thinking about what these people were actually saying. There was also a bit of artificial not-quite-drama inserted when something broke and they had to fix it... there was a delay of a couple of months to a 20 year long project with no hard deadline, so it was a bit of a shoulder shrugging moment for me. Some of the sound editing was a bit weird for no apparent reason too. Contrary to other reviewers, I actually thought the human element - technical ratio was good (given the target general audience) and I found myself quite satisfied with the resolution (which was of course quite outside the power of the film makers), although the implications of it were not teased out that much. A bit of a missed opportunity. Watch it to learn interesting stuff, not for a cinematic treat.

Particle Fever is an interesting watch in showing what we believe we can prove, what we have proven (or believe we have), what will be disproven (and/or what we believe will be disproven) and everything else in between. Particle Fever proves there is never a solid answer to any of it, and even when the scientists believe they have found the 'God' Particle other scientists will argue that they didn't (outside of the documentary). The real question is not 'What can be proven?', but the real question is 'Can you disprove it?' A documentary worth watching for the debate and concepts

Physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time -- or perhaps their greatest failure. As someone who is not a physicist (or even a scientist), but has an interest in physics, this film did a great job of laying out the before and after events of the Large Hadron Collider's search for the Higgs. Others may want more science in their science documentaries, but for a novice like myself, explaining the roles of experimentalists and theorists was very helpful. Professor Peter Higgs makes a cameo, as he should, but it seems unfortunate he did not have a bigger role in this film. In an indirect way, he is sort of the subject, being one of the original minds that launched this search.

"Particle Fever" (2013 release; 99 min.) brings the story, spread over 5 years (2007-2012) of how the CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research, based in Geneva) is trying to decipher some of the biggest unresolved mysteries in physics, namely one particular particle, and how the composition of that particle may (or may not) explain some things about the universe (or is that multiverse?). The documentary opens with some background information on why this project, which started in the late 1980s with the construction of the super-collider, is happening in Europe, rather than the US. The, we get pretty much immersed into a crash course of experimental physics vs. theoretical physics, but to tell you much more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: first and foremost, this movie is about physics, but you don't have to be a physicist to enjoy this movie! Okay, if you absolutely hate the mere idea of physics, then maybe you shouldn't invest an hour and a half of your life on this. I don't have any capability to do anything in this field, yet I found myself enjoying this documentary from start to finish, in particular the debate over the economic value of this type of research (responds one of the physicists: "None, except it may explain everything", ha!). The documentary is primarily a series of interview of about 5 or 6 scientists, most of whom are at CERN. Yet again, it sounds deceptively boring, as it turns out these people have a whole lot of interesting things to share with the world. Bottom line is that I very much enjoyed this documentary. "Particle Fever" opened recently at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati and when I went to see it, an evening screening on a work day, I was very surprised to find that there were quite a few other people in the theater for this. If you are in the mood for a documentary that will entertain you yet also teach you a few things about physics in the most unexpected way, you can't go wrong with this. "Particle Fever" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I went to this movie as a layman, seeing it because it would probably be good for me—educational—but also thinking it would probably be hard work. But I was riveted and the movie flew by faster than a James Bond movie. Many physicists will certainly wish the movie dug deeper into the actual physics, but it's partly because it didn't that I found it not just good for me but good fun. One minor quibble is that the face of the killing of the construction of a particle accelerator in Texas was put on two Republican congressmen (clips are shown of them complaining it was too expensive) and no Democrats. But it was a bipartisan decision. Here's a quote from an article in the 7/6/12 "The Atlantic": "'I'm not saying there isn't a lot of elegant science that can be gleaned from this, but that's what it is: elegant,' Senator Dale Bumpers, a Democrat, told the 'New York Times' in March 1993. 'We can't afford elegance now.'" Again: bipartisan. A great movie.

The Large Hadron Collider is a gigantic experimental apparatus, conceived in an attempt to discover the fundamental particles that make up the universe. This documentary about it is relatively light on the physics: in concentrates on the hopes of some of the scientists working on it, conveying their innate excitement for their subject rather than the technical details of how and why. But it does convey some of the reasons why this work is (at least theoretically) important: the Higgs Bosun, the previously elusive particle that was target number one for the LHC, is central to modern physical models of the universe; and moreover, determining its mass would help us choose between two broader theories: one is which the universe exists in a state of perfect symmetry, and the other in which it is just one of a huge array of universes, each with their own peculiar properties. And I think the documentary succeeds in inducing its audience to share these concerns. How this relates to the world as we perceive it on a daily basis is very unclear; but the urge to understand is something very fundamental in our humanity, and 'Particle Fever' conveys this well.

Superficially PARTICLE FEVER is a quest-narrative charting the search by a group of 4000 physicists at a variety of locations - Geneva, Princeton, Texas, for a particle that might provide the key to the way the universe works. There are several obstacles placed along the way, including an inconvenient breakdown of the machinery used to conduct the experiment, but the film ends on an optimistic note as the quest is concluded, and everyone celebrates through internet links. Mark Levinson's film contains a fair amount of technical language spoken by a variety of interviewees, including physicists Martin Aleksa, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos, and Fabiola Gianotti (among others). A lot of it is difficult, well nigh incomprehensible for nonspecialists to understand, but as the documentary unfolds, it soon becomes clear that the quest to prove the theories behind the particles is a peripheral element of the narrative. Levinson is far more interested in showing how the project involves representatives from different nations working together in a community of purpose - even those originating from countries (e.g. the United States, Iran and Iraq), which are supposedly at war with one another. The sight of them participating so enthusiastically offers a hope for the future; beneath the rhetoric expressed by politicians and warmongers there lurks a genuine desire for co-operation across cultures. Perhaps if more attention were paid to these initiatives, then the world might be a safer place. More significantly, Levinson's film shows that the so-called "two cultures" theory espoused by C. P. Snow and other writers has been satisfactorily exploded. Snow insisted that the "arts" and the "sciences" could never work cohesively with one another: one was interested in "ideas," the other in "truths." PARTICLE FEVER begins by insisting that the scientists are pursuing universal "truths" that would help individuals understand the worlds they inhabit; but as the documentary unfolds, so several of the scientists admit that their conclusions will be tenuous at best, and always subject to renegotiation. Put another way, they admit that "truth" is a relative term, dependent on the context in which the term has been employed; this knowledge lies at the heart of all "artistic" endeavors as well. We understand that both communities are engaged in similar activities; the need to discover new things about the world we inhabit and share them with others. This is what drives new research, irrespective of whether it is in the "arts" or the "sciences." Ultimately PARTICLE FEVER is an uplifting film that demonstrates the value of common research, and how it can be conducted across all platforms and all disciplines. Let us hope that the group of scientists have been inspired to continue their valuable work.