ARTICLES

Print

Film screening of Particle Fever : a documentary about the science at CERN

Date of activity: April 5, 2015

On April 5, more than 90 people made their way to the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) to watch a special screening of Particle Fever, a documentary movie on the world’s largest, most expensive, and most significant science experiment in recent history.

The movie follows the lives of six theoretical physicists and experimental physicists, revealing the hopes and theories they have accumulated during the 30-year construction of the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its hunt for the Higgs Boson.

The documentary draws attention to the fact that each scientist has a different personality and comes from a different background, but all of them are motivated to reveal the universe’s strategy. Why is that so? The movie suggests that it may simply be because human curiosity drives people to do Science in much the same way curiosity drives people to do Art. The immediate social benefits might not be clear, but testing our curiosity is what makes us human.

While Particle Fever has received positive feedback from critics and has been shown at film festivals around the world, it has not been shown in Japan. Now the institute has produced its own Japanese-subtitle version of the documentary, with the help of Kavli IPMU project professor Yasunori Nomura, who contributed a lot to this production.

David Kaplan, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who produced and starred in the documentary, was at Sunday’s event, and took part in an after-movie talk event with Dr. Nomura.

There, Dr. Kaplan had explained his motivation to make this film was to document a pivotal moment in the history of physics, and to show the world that a diverse range of people become physicists. Dr. Nomura helped emphasize this point by not only acting as Dr. Kaplan’s language interpreter at the event, but also interpreting his comments in a way that excited the audience.

The event ended with tea time, where both speakers found themselves surrounded by a crowd of participants, who had a long list of questions for their hosts. Even as the sun set over Kashiwa campus, it did not signal the end for this eye-opening event.
 

Related URL
  • Film producer David Kaplan and Kavli IPMU Project Professor Yasunori Nomura in conversation during the after-talk session.
    Film producer David Kaplan and Kavli IPMU Project Professor Yasunori Nomura in conversation during the after-talk session.
  • Kavli IPMU Project Professor Yasunori Nomura, who also makes an appearance in the film, introduces the film before its screening.
    Kavli IPMU Project Professor Yasunori Nomura, who also makes an appearance in the film, introduces the film before its screening.
  • Johns Hopkins University Professor David Kaplan answers questions from participants.
    Johns Hopkins University Professor David Kaplan answers questions from participants.

Related links

Access Map
Close
Kashiwa Campus
Close
Hongo Campus
Close
Komaba Campus
Close