How Big Science Came to Long Island: The Birth of Brookhaven Laboratory (429th Brookhaven Lecture)

Conference · Wed Oct 31 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:1005214

Crease, Robert P. ^[1]

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1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Philosophy

Robert P. Crease, historian for the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Stony Brook University, will give two talks on the Laboratory's history on October 31 and December 12. Crease's October 31 talk, titled "How Big Science Came to Long Island: The Birth of Brookhaven Lab," will cover the founding of the Laboratory soon after World War II as a peacetime facility to construct and maintain basic research facilities, such as nuclear reactors and particle accelerators, that were too large for single institutions to build and operate. He will discuss the key figures involved in starting the Laboratory, including Nobel laureates I.I. Rabi and Norman Ramsey, as well as Donald Dexter Van Slyke, one of the most renowned medical researchers in American history. Crease also will focus on the many problems that had to be overcome in creating the Laboratory and designing its first big machines, as well as the evolving relations of the Laboratory with the surrounding Long Island community and news media. Throughout his talk, Crease will tell fascinating stories about Brookhaven's scientists and their research.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 1005214
• Report Number(s): BNL--83204-2007-CP
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ACCELERATORS
BNL
REACTORS