You’ve probably been reading about the search for “the God particle,” but did you know that the term comes from a book the author wanted to call something else?
The book is by Leon M. Lederman, A Nobel Prize winner. He told friends he wanted to call it “The Goddamned Particle,” because it was so frustrating trying to find it. His publishers thought that would be offensive and convinced him to call it “The God Particle: If the Universe is the Answer, What is the Question?”
Newsdaily.com points out that most physicists dislike the term. Pauline Gagnon, one of the team looking for the particle, says “I hate that ‘God particle’ term. The Higgs is not endowed with any religious meaning. It is ridiculous to call it that.” Higgs boson is the official term for the manifestation of the theoretical field that gave mass to the most elementary particles, thereby creating the universe as we know it.
Journalists, on the other hand, love the term. It’s easy to remember and dramatic. That's also what is going to catch the eye of a person browsing for books in a shop or online.
Someone smarter than I will have to tell you about its implication for science, but I can tell you what it means for your book title: make it dramatic and a bit provocative. If you can imagine journalists using it, probably you’re on the right track—for marketing purposes, if not always for strict accuracy.
One solution: have a dramatic title and a more down-to-earth, explanatory subtitle.
(There's a lot of information about marketing your book in "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
