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A brief history of the particle accelerator…

By Hamish Johnston

Thanks to Gabriela Quiros at QUEST – a multimedia science and environment programme from KQED in San Francisco – for forwarding a link to this video, which traces the history of the particle accelerator back to the Bay Area of the 1930s.

While it’s aimed at a general audience, it has some nice archive images of early accelerators – including an ancient copper cyclotron that looks like the sort of plumbing nightmare that still lurks in the lofts of many British houses.

There’s also commentary from some of the Golden State’s most famous particle physicists including Nobel winner Burton Richter and SLAC director Persis Drell.

Posted by Hamish Johnston on Jul 27, 2010 10:37 PM | Permalink