Week8
Prompt:
In several different twentieth-century sciences, including physics and biology, researchers banded together in organizations and collaborations that seemed unprecedentedly large to explain natural phenomena at scales that seemed unprecedentedly small. Identify one example and, with reference to course materials, characterize the connection between “big science” and “small particles.”
Response: (231 words)
Big Science was an idea developed by the 20th century scientist Alvin Weinberg, that is, scientific research projects that are large in scale, heavily funded, require multinational collaborations, and rely on highly complex technologies and facilities. (Galison, P.L. & Hevly, B.W., eds. 1992) Ernest Rutherford’s discovery of the atomic nucleus with his gold foil experiment, followed by James Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron, which was of great significance for the understanding of the composition and structure of the nucleus, and Niels Bohr’s formulation of the famous Bohr model, which was an important extension of Rutherford’s model, introducing the concept of the quantum in order to account for the electron’s energy levels and spectral lines.(Kragh, H. 2020) These scientists laid the foundations for the exploration of the atomic nucleus, leading to a new era of 20th century physics based on the study of the atomic nucleus. The subsequent multinational collaboration (CERN) and the construction of the multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider used some of the most advanced technologies of the 20th century, such as conductive magnet technology, sophisticated electronics, and high-performance computing, to explore the atomic nucleus. Nuclear research has led to a deeper understanding of the fundamental composition of matter and to the development of many technologies, such as radiation therapy in medicine and nuclear fission and fusion in energy. Big Science enables scientists to explore SMALL PARTICLES through vast resources and international collaboration.
Reference:
Galison, P.L. & Hevly, B.W., eds. (1992). Big science: The growth of large-scale research. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Kragh, H. (2020) Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century. 1st edition. [Online]. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
