Tunnel Visions

Tunnel Visions

Author: Michael Riordan

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2015-11-20

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 022629479X

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In October 1993 the US Congress terminated the Superconducting Super Collider at the time the largest basic-science project ever attempted, with a total cost estimated to exceed $10 billion. Its termination was a watershed event a pivot point not only in the history of physics but also for science in general. "Tunnel Visions" follows the evolution of the endeavor from its origins in the Reagan Administration s military buildup of the early 1980s to its post-Cold War demise a decade later. The failure of the SSC raises the question of whether Big Science has become too big and expensive; can scientists and their government backers effectively manage such enormous undertakings? The case of the Super Collider offers important lessons about the conditions required to build and sustain a large scientific laboratory, and the rise and fall of the SSC also serves as a cautionary tale about the long-term viability of a research community that comes to depend as much as did US high-energy physics upon a single experimental facility of such an unprecedented scale. Riordan, Hoddeson, and Kolb have written the definitive history of the SSC. "


Reviews Of Accelerator Science And Technology, Volume 1

Reviews Of Accelerator Science And Technology, Volume 1

Author: Alexander Wu Chao

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2008-12-03

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 9814469785

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Particle accelerators are a major invention of the 20th century. In the last eight decades,they have evolved enormously and have fundamentally changed the way we live, think and work.Accelerators are the most powerful microscopes for viewing the tiniest inner structure of cells, genes, molecules, atoms and their constituents such as protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos and quarks. This opens up a whole new world for materials science, chemistry and molecular biology. Accelerators with megawatt beam power may ultimately solve a critical problem faced by our society, namely, the treatment of nuclear waste and the supply of an alternative type of energy.There are also tens of thousands of small accelerators all over the world. They are used every day for medical imaging, cancer therapy, radioisotope production, high-density chip-making, mass spectrometry, cargo x-ray/gamma-ray imaging, detection of explosives and illicit drugs, and weapons. This volume provides a comprehensive review of this driving and fascinating field.The poster (also available in 1118 x 406 mm size) which illustrates the history and development of particle accelerators from 1919 to the future can be purchased separately.