Director: Mark Levinson
Featuring: Fabiola Gianotti, Savas Dimopoulos, Monica Dunford, Martin Aleksa, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Mike Lamont.
Running Time: 99 minutes
Synopsis: Particle Fever follows the inside story of six brilliant scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries of the universe, documenting the successes and setbacks in the planet’s most significant and inspiring scientific breakthrough.
Like most of the world, I’ve watched with interest while snippets of information have been drip-fed as we’re informed that those clever folk over at CERN in Geneva are trying to recreate the Big Bang. The truth is somewhat different to that simple PR description though, as that the experiments taking place were (and are) much more complex and important, they hope to try and discern a segment in a sequence that is part of everything that binds us, and one that makes particle physics possible. The search for the Higgs boson wasn’t just about recreating the beginning of the universe as we know it, it was searching to either confirm or cancel part of everything we assumed to be true.
Coming into PARTICLE FEVER as a general fan of all things Science, but with limited knowledge, I was initially concerned that the documentary might overshoot a basic understanding. However, what transpires is something utterly accessible and deeply fascinating. It offers more awareness into the reason behind the ground-breaking, 20-years-in-waiting experiment and the real, very significant effect the outcome has on our society.
Following the lives of six scientists, the documentary celebrates the passionate people behind everything. For some, physics may seem inaccessible or excessively complex but it’s portrayed in an interesting way so you can really connect. Did you know that the World Wide Web was invented some 20 years ago at the start of this project, just so scientists could share the eventual information that it would produce? They’ve been building it since then underground in a huge circle as they need to shoot streams of energy beyond the speed of light and it covers a 17-mile circumference? This is just a small part of the information you’ll acquire.
The people we follow are distinguished physicists Fabiola Gianotti and Savas Dimopoulos, who have been part of the reason for the construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the eventual results of the collision will be the culmination of their lifetime’s work. We also go along on the ride with physicists Monica Dunford and Martin Aleksa. They’re relative newcomers and this experiment is an opportunity to establish them in an elite world of physics and be a part of something truly historic. We also spend a lot of time with the passionate, bright mind of Nima Arkani-Hamed, an outspoken theorist whose ideas will be tested at the LHC. And finally, Mike Lamont is the Beam Operation Leader, it’s his job to make sure everything works and when we say everything – You’ll just have to wait and see the sheer scale of proceedings.
Edited by Walter Murch, his keen eye and clever graphic use bring you into the spectacle that’s directed by Mark Levinson, who was formally a physicist himself, creates an exciting documentary with David Kaplan, a Johns Hopkins University professor of particle physics who helped produce the feature.
The scientists involved are staking their entire lives on the outcome, for some 40 years of work, and PARTICLE FEVER goes out to prove that this isn’t just about trying it for the sake of science; this is bigger because the outcome could change all we know beneath our existence. Full of unique insight and honesty, you’ll be equally entertained and informed with a hugely perceptive piece of filmmaking.
[usr=4] PARTICLE FEVER is available now via Amazon on-Demand DVD.
Find it by clicking the image below:
