Angels and Demons Dan Brown

In 2000, Dan Brown published his thriller Angels & Demons, in which a stolen container of antimatter from the European research center CERN threatens to obliterate Vatican City. The tension between science and faith lies at the heart of the story — but how much of this spectacular premise is grounded in actual science? As Freemasons, we cherish the pursuit of truth as one of our highest values. Let us, therefore, separate the facts from the fiction. Antimatter: From Theoretical Concept to Laboratory Reality The history of antimatter begins in 1928, when British physicist Paul Dirac formulated an equation that predicted the existence of antiparticles. Four years later, in 1932, Carl Anderson discovered the positron — the antiparticle of the electron — earning him the Nobel Prize. This was no longer science fiction; it was experimental science. Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons builds on this reality by presenting antimatter as a kind of ultimate energy source, albeit with considerable artistic license. At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, antimatter is indeed produced. The Antiproton Decelerator and the ALPHA experiment are working facilities where scientists create and study antihydrogen atoms. So far, Dan Brown’s story checks out: CERN […]