Current Events > TIL it was supposed to be called "The Goddamn Particle"

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The phrase "God Particle" was plastered across the front pages of news outlets everywhere when the discovery of the particle was announced in 2012. "God Particle discovered" is a much sexier headline than "Higgs boson discovered," but most physicists hate the term.

It was not the intended nickname for the famous particle, according to a panel of physicists who discussed the Higgs boson on April 29 as part of the Scientific Controversies lecture series.

The story goes that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman referred to the Higgs as the "Goddamn Particle." The nickname was meant to poke fun at how difficult it was to detect the particle. It took nearly half a century and a multi-billion dollar particle accelerator to do it.

"The Goddamn Particle" was suppose to be the title of Lederman's book that came out in the 1990s and was wildly popular for a book about physics. However, his publishers weren't exactly on board with that phrasing, so the title was changed to "The God Particle."

Unfortunately the publisher's version of the nickname stuck, and physicists are not happy about it.

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-higgs-is-called-the-god-particle-2015-5

i didn't know people call the higgs boson god particle

Beany posted...

However, his publishers weren't exactly on board with that phrasing, so the title was changed to "The God Particle."

man fuck this censorship ass bullshit

Goddamn particle

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5f03af0d.jpg