Are There Really Neutrinos?

Praise for the first edition

"Franklin’s excellent book is especially welcome and timely. It tells us much about the history of the neutrino and related physics…. It deserves a wide readership."
–William Evenson, History of Physics Newsletter

Praise for the first edition

"Franklin’s excellent book is especially welcome and timely. It tells us much about the history of the neutrino and related physics. . . . It deserves a wide readership."
– William Evenson, History of Physics Newsletter

Praise for the second edition

"The question posed by the title of this work is a reasonable one. Neutrinos are the most elusive known things, their existence revealed only by the most careful of experiments. Franklin, author of the first edition (2018), writes: "My purpose is to persuade the reader that science is a reasonable enterprise, which produces knowledge of the physical world on the basis of valid experimental evidence and reasoned and critical discussion." This valuable book succeeds in achieving that goal, conveying the practice of science through its intellectual history. The earlier edition covered neutrinos from their beginnings, when they were regarded as something necessary but still undetected, carrying through to the discovery of neutrino oscillations at the beginning of the 21st century. This second edition adds a new 40-page epilogue, covering highlights of the last 20 years of neutrino research, including the "neutrinoless" beta decay experiments. Some background in physics is desirable for readers hoping to appreciate the book's account of decades of theoretical and experimental research on neutrinos. This work is designed to appeal mainly to scientists, but will also engage lay readers interested in the history and philosophy of science. Any university library that does not own the first edition should certainly consider acquiring the second.

– M. C. Ogilvie, Washington University, USA, in CHOICE March 2021, Vol. 58 No. 7