Re: Is Particle Physics At Risk of Becoming Tautological?

[Daniel Schroeder <DSCHROEDER@CC.WEBER.EDU>]

> A short "no" answer to Ed's question (from somebody who
> probably knows the subject very well) should be elaborated
> upon for the benefits of some of us. Why was the question
> asked? Why should the negative answer be accepted? Can
> we deal with the topic without meeting many prerequisites?

It's hard to know where to begin when someone suggests that
an entire subfield of physics has lost touch with its
empirical basis.  There's a good book by Cahn and Goldhaber,
The Experimental Basis of Particle Physics, which would
be readable to many but not all subscribers to this list.
There are many good popular books and Scientific American
articles and such, but none are great and all would leave
many questions unanswered since the subject is so vast.
On neutrinos in particular I am not an expert and would
defer to others.  Perhaps someday I'll write up something
that might be of interest.

Dan