Antimatter (Oxford University Press), by Frank Close

Dan Brown popularized the notion of an antimatter bomb in his potboiler Angels & Demons, but even if the U.S. military bought the idea, Frank Close will have none of it. In his guide to a fascinating sector on the fringe of science, the Oxford physics professor harrumphs at claims that the mysterious particles could be a source of world-transforming energy or world-destroying weaponry. Antimatter succinctly summarizes conventional scientific wisdom on the subject of those mirror images of electrons that evaporate on contact with the matter that comprises our material universe. But while discounting the popular idea that these Alice in Wonderland particles prove the laws of nature are wrong, he adds that those laws "have turned out to be more subtle than anyone had anticipated."