Royal Society Winton Prize goes to book about Higgs boson particle

The story of one of science's most audacious experiments and "a real rock star of a book", about the adventure of finding the Higgs boson particle, has won the £25,000 (HK$314,000) Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.

by theoretical physicist, television presenter and author Sean Carroll won unanimous support from the judges. Carrol said: "I feel enormous gratitude towards the thousands of physicists at the Large Hadron Collider and the millions of people who express their love for science every day."

The book tells the story of the Large Hadron Collider, which began operations in 2009 and whose results after three years led scientists to announce the discovery of the Higgs boson.

Carroll's book argues that "we construct machines such as the Large Hadron Collider, and try to uncover the building blocks of the cosmos, primarily as cultural exercises", according to the London-based review.

"It is an exceptional example of the genre and a real rock star of a book," said Professor Uta Frith, developmental psychologist and chair of the judges.