1964: the physicist Peter Higgs records in his notebook his incredible idea: "There is a particle that explains how matter acquired its mass. Its discovery will open a gateway to a hidden world of particles and forces that we can hardly imagine." "This Higgs particle will never be discovered - I bet 100 dollars," later stated Stephen Hawking.

2012: the 83-year-old Professor Peter Higgs tears up upon hearing the research teams at the CERN Supercollider in Geneva announce that "a new particle has been observed with many similarities to the so-called Higgs particle." "I believe Peter Higgs deserves to win the Nobel Prize," says Stephen Hawking today.

So who is Peter Higgs - the "Einstein" of the 21st century - who has made the scientific community rave with excitement, and everyone talk about something that few understand? What is the coveted Higgs boson? What does it signify for scientific knowledge and humanity?

The book narrates the story of an idea that became the target of a global search costing billions - the chronicle of an incredible adventure featuring the most important scientists on the planet, and where the largest facilities and the most complex machines ever built are utilized. "A vividly alive read... A rare book of high-quality scientific journalism." ("Kirkus Reviews")

Inside the machine, fragments of atoms are accelerated to speeds approaching that of light and collide head-on with one another. These controlled violent collisions recreate the conditions that prevailed in the first moments of the Big Bang: the cosmic explosion that birthed the Universe. Amidst these fleeting flashes of primordial fire, scientists seek answers to the deepest mysteries of nature...