REMINISCENCES: A JOURNEY THROUGH PARTICLE PHYSICS

A personal recount in areas of particle physics and related fields as a research physicist for over 50 years, Adrian Melissinos' insights into the ways that general research was carried out, as well as the evolution of particle physics from 1958 to 2008 will prove valuable to science history enthusiasts, as well as particle physicists.Be it conventional accelerator experiments, the use of microwave techniques in search of cosmic axions, or taking advantage of high power lasers to observe light-by-light scattering, the excitement of searching for something new in the face of failures and then successes is enriching, and the collaboration with gifted and outstanding colleagues and students proves insightful.A hybrid of personal reminiscences and a professional journey, readers get to relive the joy and excitement of researching and teaching in small groups during those early years while gaining a partial historical perspective of particle physics since 1958 -- all in Reminiscences: A Journey through Particle Physics.Sample Chapter(s) /remove

Professor Melissinos has been involved in experiments at four major U.S. particle accelerators. He was also involved in the first searches for cosmic axions and searches for the birefringence of the vacuum. In the 1980s, his group built one of the first high frequency microwave parametric converters.

Melissinos has extensive experience with high power lasers and he was part of an experiment (at SLAC) that demonstrated e+e- pair production in nonlinear photon-photon scattering. He and his group built the laser that drives the A0 photoinjector at Fermilab and carried out experiments on advanced accelerator concepts.

He is the author/co-author of four physics textbooks and co-editor of four volumes of proceedings.