Credit: Maximilien Brice/CERNĪfter the 1993 demise of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), CERN leaders decided to pursue construction of the LHC, but they realized they needed to attract significant funds for the project from beyond Europe. The flags of CERN member states fly outside the Geneva-based high-energy-physics laboratory. And those globe-spanning experimental collaborations benefited extensively from the creation and development of the World Wide Web at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee. It gradually developed a talented, cohesive staff that could effectively manage the difficult construction of the multibillion-euro Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its four gigantic detectors: ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb. Many thousands of scientists of diverse nationalities, not just Europeans, have eagerly pursued high-energy-physics research in this highly appealing environment, given its many cultural amenities-plus world-class hiking, mountain climbing, and skiing in the nearby Alps.ĬERN grew steadily during more than five decades of increasingly important high-energy-physics research, reusing existing accelerators and colliders wherever possible in the construction of new facilities. Part of CERN’s success as a citadel of modern physics is due to the early-1950s decision to establish it in Geneva, Switzerland, a city and nation widely recognized for cosmopolitanism and political neutrality. And it would not have been possible without a series of farsighted decisions and actions. It was a remarkable diplomatic achievement, too, at a moment of relative world peace, perhaps the pinnacle of international scientific cooperation. Physicists from all the countries involved could take well-earned credit for what will surely stand as one of the 21st century’s greatest scientific breakthroughs. Ten years ago, two of the largest scientific collaborations ever-spanning six continents and encompassing more than 60 nations-announced their discovery at CERN of the long-sought Higgs boson, the capstone of the standard model.
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