Author Archives: Jon Butterworth

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About Jon Butterworth

UCL Physics prof, works on LHC, writes (books, Cosmic Shambles and elsewhere). Citizen of England, UK, Europe & Nowhere, apparently.

Quarks, Gluons and Jets

An updated version of this post is now on The Guardian. See also the glossary section after Chapter 1.5 of Smashing Physics. Yesterday we (ATLAS) released our first (preliminary) jet cross section measurement. “Cross section” in this context is basically … Continue reading

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Self Reference

I guess every blogger has to blog about blogging at some point. I was on a panel of science bloggers at a talkfest organised by Alice Bell and Beck Smith last week, so it has been on my mind, and … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Science, Science Policy, Writing | Tagged | 10 Comments

Engineering a Decline?

See also Chapter 3.3 of Smashing Physics. In a way, I am quite impressed by the Royal Academy of Engineering. They have managed to speak very clearly in response to some difficult questions from our new political masters. What they … Continue reading

Posted in Particle Physics, Politics, Science, Science Policy | Tagged , | 27 Comments

Money (That’s What I Want)

Once you pay someone enough to allow them to live comfortably, bunging more money at them is not a terribly effective motivator. In Britain, or England at least, we seem to have great trouble really accepting this. The banks crashed despite the … Continue reading

Posted in Particle Physics, Physics, Science, Science Policy, Travel | Tagged | 5 Comments