Exploring a Violent Universe: The Story of the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory

Covering an area of over 3000 km2 of a desert in Argentina, larger than the area of Chicago,the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory detects and measures the highest energy particles in the universe. Called ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, where do they come from and how do they get to have the momentum of a fast baseball when they are less than one ten-thousandth the size of a hydrogen atom? That is, if they are a mix of protons and light atomic nuclei as we believe. In his book “Exploring a Violent Universe” Paul Mantsch, who was a leader and Project Manager of the observatory, writes the fascinating story of how this giant new “eye on the sky” was started by Nobel Laureate James Cronin and Alan Watson, FRS, how they built up the international collaboration, acquired the funding and made it happen, concluding with some of the discoveries, and questions still unanswered. Mantsch writes engagingly about the ups and downs along the road and how the problems – or let’s say challenges – were overcome. The many photographs and illustrations accompanying the excellent writing combine to make this an enjoyable read and a valuable contribution to science history. One wishes the stories of other large scientific projects could be documented in the same exemplary way.(Michael Albrow)

This book tells the story of the conception, design, engineering, installation and science of the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory in Malargue, Argentina. It was written by the principal science manager, Dr. Paul Mantsch, and provides a succinct yet authoritative history of the project. This will be key source material for future historians of science who wish to see how an early 21st century astrophysics project was actually carried out. Its also would be a good read for current big science project managers, to get an idea of roadblocks, timelines, and budgets, as well as the value of international cooperation.