The Matter of Everything

Twelve Experiments that Changed Our World

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The Matter of Everything

By: Suzie Sheehy

Narrated by: Suzie Sheehy

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£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

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Bloomsbury presents The Matter of Everything written and read by Suzie Sheehy.

The astonishing story of twentieth-century physics, told through the twelve experiments that changed our world

A 2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: NEW SCIENTIST * WATERSTONES * SUNDAY TIMES

'A splendid idea, vividly carried out: I enjoyed this book enormously’ PHILIP PULLMAN
'A rich history of beautiful discoveries' ROBIN INCE
'An all-action thriller, laced with some of the most profound ideas humans have ever had’ BRIAN ENO

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How did a piece of gold foil completely change our understanding of atoms?
What part did a hot air balloon play in the discovery of cosmic rays?
How did the experiments in the run-up to the Large Hadron Collider lead to the invention of the World Wide Web?

Asking questions has always been at the heart of physics, our unending quest to understand the Universe and how everything in it behaves. How do we know all that we know about the world today? It’s not simply because we have the maths – it’s because we have done the experiments.

Accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy introduces us to the creative and curious people who, through a combination of genius, persistence and luck, staged the ground-breaking experiments of the twentieth century. From the serendipitous discovery of X-rays in a German laboratory, to the scientists trying to prove Einstein wrong (and inadvertently proving him right), The Matter of Everything takes us on a journey through the history of experiments that transformed our world.©2022 Suzie Sheehy (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Suzie SheehySuzie SheehyBloomsbury Publishing

History

History & Philosophy

Physics

Science

Thought-Provoking

Mathematics

Inspiring

Black Hole

Discovery

History History & Philosophy Physics Science Thought-Provoking Mathematics Inspiring Black Hole Discovery

Critic reviews

Vividly described . . . A sweeping but detailed and pacy account of 100 years of scientific advancement, The Matter of Everything has a cheering takeaway. What such leaps lie ahead? What questions seem intractable now that we won’t give a thought to in the future? Sheehy mounts the case that – with persistence, curiosity and collaboration – we may yet overcome challenges that now seem impossible

The Matter of Everything . . . brings out the stars of experimental physics, the people who directly observe, hypothesise and build machines firing beams of matter and energy to test theory against reality . . . Give[s] a real sense of the thrill of scientific discovery

The perfect bedside book for anyone who wants to ponder the remarkable achievements of physics. A rich history of beautiful discoveries (Robin Ince)

It’s a rare writer that can pluck the biggest ideas in science out of the sky, and bring them down to earth in a way that anyone can understand. In her first fantastic book, Suzie takes on the seemingly unreachable inner life of atoms, and places it directly into our hands. More than just a history of particle physics, this is an interconnected web of experiments, people and stories that are simultaneously passionate and profound (Helen Arney)

This is a book about the fundamental problems of physics written from a viewpoint I hadn’t come across before: that of the experimenter. Someone first thought of the cloud chamber, or the cyclotron, or the MRI scanner, and that person (or that team) had to build one: you couldn’t buy one off the shelf. The actual sequence of experiments, and failures, and more experiments, and success, is a fascinating one, especially for any readers excited, as I am, by the thought of making things. A splendid idea, vividly carried out: I enjoyed this book enormously (Philip Pullman)

This fascinating and highly readable book captures the radical excitement of experimental science as it's being made. It’s an all-action thriller, laced with some of the most profound ideas humans have ever had (Brian Eno)

A wonderful telling of the history of particle physics . . . Suzie has written a book that makes these important stories and ideas from the history of science accessible, and genuinely enjoyable to read (Alom Shaha)

A magical tour of the great experiments defining the most incredible century in physics . . . Sheehy seamlessly weaves the science and history with why this matters to all of us: as she expertly illustrates, our quest to understand the tiniest of particles has had an enormous impact on technology, health and society, reaching far beyond the lab (Andrew Steele, author of AGELESS)

Most relevant

I loved the way each chapter took a concept from it's initial discovery right through to the modern day and tied it in with all the other chapters. I did a lot of these at school and have read other books but the extra context laid out in this way has helped my understanding immensely!