FERMILAB, 1965-1990: A Case Study in the Emergence of Big Science

Drs。霍德森和韦斯特福尔通过对世界上能量最高的粒子加速器基地费米国家加速器实验室（费米实验室）的建立和最初几十年的运行进行仔细研究，继续探索美国大规模研究出现的关键特征。随着美国准备以前所未有的规模进入科学研究的新阶段，例如超导超级对撞机（SSC）、人类基因组计划和载人空间站，通过详细的案例研究更深入地了解“大科学”的运作变得尤为重要。通过文献研究，辅以对主要参与者的口述历史访谈，该项目旨在研究大科学的历史问题，包括：设备和实验的规模、范围和成本增加对研究的影响；更大的工作团队、预算和时间尺度导致的研究变化；理论模型和计算机分析在实验和加速器建设中的作用以及地理集中、国家和国际政治以及经济政策的影响。

Drs. Hoddeson and Westfall are continuing their exploration of the critical features in the emergence of large-scale research in America through a close examination of the founding and first decades of operation of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the base of the world's highest energy particle accelerator. As the United States prepares to enter a new phase in the pursuit of science on unprecedented scales, e.g., the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), the Human Genome Project and the Manned Space Station, deeper understanding of the workings of "big science" through detailed case studies becomes especially vital. Through research in documents, supplemented by oral history interviews with leading participants, the project is designed to examine historical problems of big science, including: the effects on research of increased size, scope, and cost of facilities and experiments; changes in research resulting from much larger working teams, budgets, and time-scales; the role of theoretical models and computer analysis in experimentation and accelerator building; and the influences of geographical concentration, national and international politics, and economic policy.