Geneva, 19 October 2009. Voyage to the Heart of Matter, a new pop-up book about the science of CERN¹'s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), focusing on the ATLAS experiment, will be published on 9 November in London. Other language editions will follow. Journalists are invited to the press launch of the UK edition at 10am on 9 November at the Royal Institution² Time & Space Café, where they will be able to pick up a review copy. There will also be interview opportunities with physicists at this exciting time just before first physics at the LHC.

At the LHC, protons travelling at nearly the speed of light collide 40 million times a second within the heart of particle detectors like ATLAS, sending out showers of debris, to recreate the conditions that existed millionths of a second after the big bang, the event that set our universe in motion. Now readers of all ages can join the ATLAS Experiment on this fascinating journey to the beginnings of the universe.

In this unique collaboration between ATLAS and renowned paper engineer Anton Radevsky, 7000 tonnes of metal, glass, plastic, cables and computer chips leap from the page in miniature pop-up, to tell the story of CERN’s quest to understand the birth of the universe.

The UK edition of the book is published by Papadakis.

To sign up for the launch: Due to limited space, those interested in attending should register on this STFC³ website  before 26 October.

Physicists present: Dave Charlton is deputy spokesperson of the ATLAS collaboration and works for the University of Birmingham. Dan Tovey leads the ATLAS group at the University of Sheffield and is deputy spokesperson of ATLAS-UK. Pippa Wells is a UK physicist based at CERN and is the project leader of the ATLAS inner detector.

Further information:

• CERN Press office +41 (0)22 76 721 41 or +41 (0)22 76 734 32 press.office@cern.ch
• CERN
• ATLAS
• Papadakis

Papadakis Publisher: Sarah Roberts Tel. +44 (0) 16 35 24 88 33

The book:

• 280 x 220mm (portrait) in full colour
• Hardback (8 pages) ISBN 9781906506063
• Papadakis Publisher, London
• £20.00
• The book is available for purchase from end November. Review copies are available from 9 November. Journalists unable to attend the launch to pick up their review copy should contact Papadakis.
  Download photos of the book

About the authors:

Anton Radevsky is a pop-up engineer and illustrator and lives in Sofia, Bulgaria. His previous books include The Modern Architecture Pop-Up Book, The Pop-Up Book Of Space Craft and The Wild West Pop-Up Book.

Emma Sanders is a member of CERN’s education and outreach team, and developer of the Laboratory’s Microcosm exhibition centre.

The launch:

The launch takes place from 10am to 11.30am on 9 November at

The Royal Institution of Great Britain
21 Albemarle Street,
London
W1S 4BS
+44 (0)20 7409 2992

1. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.
2. The Royal Institution is the UK’s leading science based community delivering balanced, relevant understanding of science and its impact on our rapidly changing world. As an independent charity, it is dedicated to increasing knowledge, excitement and involvement in science and technology for current and future generations.
3. The UK Science and Technology Facilities Council promotes and supports high-quality scientific and engineering research. The Council funds researchers in universities and provides access to world-class facilities, both in the UK and abroad, including CERN. In addition, the Council encourages public engagement with science, communicating research results and promoting dialogue.