The Superconducting SupercolliderKevles: Preface

• Explain the progression in physics research from the 1930's to the present in terms of atomic physics, nuclear physics and high-energy (elementary particle) physics in terms of focus and cost.– Explain the differences between these different branches of physics

• What are protons and neutrons "made of"? What are electrons made of?

• What are the only known fundamental forces in nature?– On what particles do these forces act and on which particle property does their

strength depend?

– How do the forces themselves act like particles?

– Which force theories are unified and which are not?

Websites on high energy accelerators

• Stanford Linear Accelerator

• CERN

• SSC

Funding for accelerator physics• What was the Superconducting Supercollider (SSC) and why did

the US Government decide to cut off funding for it? – Was this a wise decision?– Compare the role of the following issues in the cutting off of SSC funding

• Failure of the physics community to set priorities.• Mismanagement in the administration of the project.• Failure to achieve international cost-sharing• Unconvincing demonstration of cost-benefit ratio. Too much "pork" not enough

"trickle-down."• Is basic science research as much in the national interest (especially national

security) as socially purposefully science? What about compared to the space station or the Mars mission?

• Compare the circumstances in the 1930's leading to EarnestLawrence’s good funding for his cyclotron accelerator researchwith the circumstances in the 1990’s leading to the cancellationof the SSC accelerator in Texas. – How do you account for the success of one and the failure of the other

of these expensive high-energy accelerator physics projects?

High Energy Accelerators

How do we set priorities in science funding?

• Should the SSC project have been canceled?– Is curiosity enough of a reason to fund projects like these?

– What would have been the consequences in 2015 if basic (curiosity-driven) research were not funded in the 1930s?

– How has the hunt for the Higgs particle proceeded from the cancellation of the SSC in 1993 to today, in 2015.

– Use your wildest imagination to describe a possible practical or societal consequence of new very high energy experiments in elementary particle physics.

– How should expensive high energy physics experiments be supported?

• How do we decide on a balance between support for socially purposeful research and for basic research which has no clear socially purposefull spinoffs until it is funded?

Science and religious interpretations

• Why was the putative Higgs particle called the "God" particle by physicists in "selling" the SSD to Congress?– Senator J. Bennett Johnson in advocating the SSD said that, "many

scientists see in the patterns, the complexities, the symmetries, and yet the simplicity of matter and quarks and leptons and the way they are put together the hand of God." Was this appropriate?

• Compare these claims with the beliefs of Robert Millikan in the 1920's and 1920's that cosmic rays were evidence for God.

• Should scientists be making such claims?

Does the U.S. have separation of State, Church and Science?

State Church

Science

Kevles notes: Ch. XI, Chs. XIV-XVI

Physics 3000, Spring 2015,

Science and Public Policy

Instructor: M. Goldman

CH. XI The Impact of Quantum Mechanics

• Who was George Ellery Hale?– Astronomer– Editor of Astrophysical Journal– Director of Mount Wilson Observatory– Member of Nat'l Academy of Sciences

• Created NRC (National Research Council)– Helped develop US science infrastructure from 1915 on

• How was American science after WW-I bolstered by contributions from philanthropists and philanthropic institutions.

– Cal Tech was created in 1921. Hale raised money for an endowment from wealthy southern Californians who wanted to stimulate industrial development in the region.

– Earlier, the University of Chicago was endowed by John D. Rockefeller and Mt. Wilson Observatory was endowed by Andrew Carnegie

• The American Physical Society: "A Century of Physics"

CH. XI (Cont'd)• Before WW-I atomic physics developed in terms

of quantum mechanics by European scientists such as Einstein. What were the advances in atomic physics and quantum mechanics in the mid-20's and who made them and where?

– Neils Bohr, Danish, Theory of the atom (with Sommerfeld). Correspondence principle. Periodic table. Nobel Prize 1922

– Arthur Compton, U.S. Postdoc in England under Rutherford. Joined faculty at Washington University, St. Louis. Applied quantum ideas to X-rays scattered off of electrons. 1922

– Wofgang Pauli, Austria, States of atomic electrons and quantum numbers. Exclusion principle. 1924

– Werner Heisenberg, Germany. Formulated quantum mechanics using arrays of numbers (matrices). Uncertainty principle. 1925

– Erwin Schroedinger, Swiss. Formulated quantum mechanics in terms of a "wave of probability." 1926

Atomic Bomb, 1945

Theoretical vs. Experimental Physicists• Theoretical

– First half of 20th century: • Einstein, Heisenberg, Schroedinger,

Dirac, Oppenheimer, Feynman

• Advances in quantum mechanics, atomic physics, nuclear physics

• Did not require gov’t support at all

– 2nd half 20th century, Beg. 21st:

• Murray Gel-Mann, Ed Witten, Lisa Randall, Frank Wilcek

• Advances in theory of high energy physics and low temperature physics

• Theorists sometimes need supercomputer support

• Experimental– First half of 20th century:

• Hale, Ernest Laurence, Arthur Compton, Ernest Rutherford, Rabi

• Quantum mechanics, atomic physics, nuclear

• Received support from nonprofit institutions

– 2nd half 20th century, Beg. 21st:• Mostly large groups in high-energy

• Low temperature: Carl Wieman and Eric Cornell (CU) -Bose Einstein Condensate (Condensed Matter)

• Accelerators expensive - require heavy government or intergovment funding (bigger magnets, higher voltage)

• Other frontier basic research is relatively small scale and does not require many $$$.

Ch. XIV A New Center for Physics• From 1919-1932 many young American physicists went to Europe for

Postdoc studies. Where did their Postdoc support come from?– Mostly from non-profit private institutions: Guggenheim and Rockefeller

foundations, NRC• During this period how did women and minorities in science fare?

– Women began to get degrees in the sciences but had difficulty getting employment at major universities like Harvard. Flapper mentality may have been disincentive for women to become scientists.

• APS Women and Minorities Programs– Low scientific quality of American Catholic schools discouraged Catholics from

becoming scientists; many could not afford a scientific education.– Jews were almost as underrepresented in American Science as Catholics, while

they dominated European science (Einstein, Pauli, others). Antisemitism operated at every level of the industry and academia.

• Isidor Rabi slowly made his way toacceptance as a top U.S. physicist

• J. Robert Oppenheimer was another example.

• In 1932, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton attracted Einstein to U.S.

• Attitudes began to change

Ch. XV: Miraculous Year• Why was 1932 a miraculous year in U.S. science?

– Because of research advances in nuclear physics eventually leading tofive Nobel Prizes, three of them for work done in United States

• Lawrence (cyclotron), Urey (deuterium), Anderson (positron)

• What is nuclear physics?– The study of the forces and particles in the nucleus of an atom.– The nucleus can be studied by looking at radioactive decay of, say, radium and by

accelerating particles and nuclei to high energies so that they can collide with targets. – Discoveries: neutron, isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium), meson, positron (anti-electron)

• Who was Earnest Lawrenceand what did he do?

– He conceived of the cyclotron andconstructed the first such highenergy accelerator which reached1 million volts of particle energyin 1932

– He was a Professor at Berkeley. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratoriesand Lawrence LivermoreLaboratories are named after him.

Ch. XVI: Revolt Against Science• What was the nature of the revolt?

– Depression in 1930s caused Federal and industrial allocations to research to be slashed– Philanthropic monies turned to psychology and biology instead of physics. (Pg. 249)– Companies like GE furloughed half their technical staff by 1933. (Pg. 250)– Legislatures became unsympathetic towards research at public expense (Pg. 250)– A coalition of budget-cutting conservatives and socially purposeful reformers had

reduced appropriations for scientific luxuries in 1930s in (as well as1890s). (Pg. 251)

• What in science should really interest us today [1930s]? Not the verification of Einstein's theory of relativity, Atterbury declaimed. In the present state of affairs all that seemed "brilliantly useless, especially when you consider the millions who cannot afford decent homes because none of our great minds has ever focused on the basic everyday problem of human shelter... With a small amount of such brains as are now focused on the speed with which the neutron penetrates the nucleus of the atom ... the cost of the poor man's housing today could be cut in half." Quote (pg. 247) from Grosvenor Atterbury, architect, town planner and pioneer in prefabricated housing

Ch. XVII: New Deal & Research (1933-38)

• What was the New Deal?

• Who was Karl Compton?– President of MIT. Appointed chair

of newly formed Science AdvisoryBoard (without teeth).

– A conservative scientist

• In the 1930's what was the difference between a conservative scientist and a New Dealer or liberal scientist?– Conservative scientists believe in laissez-faire capitalism attitude towards business

and industry with trickle-down benefit to public. They believe in low taxesbut also (at this time) that research can lead to development and prosperity. .

– New Dealers believed in strong regulation of industry and in "taxing and spending." More activism in social programs and economic reform. Advocates of "socially purposeful science more than basic research.

Karl ComptonVannevar Bush

Ch. XVIII: Recovery in Physics (1935-39)

• What developments occurred in science during the recovery?– Beginning of patent activities in research Universities

– New appreciation and popularity of science (Einstein lectures)

– Development of television, nylon stockings, plastics, air-conditioning, commercial air travel, sulfanamide drugs, X-rays in crime detection.

– Neutron and positron discovered. Larger cyclotrons. Nuclear energy. Neutron and radioactive therapy for cancer treatment

– Increased academic income and government agency budgets (NBS). More jobs.

Ch. XIX: Organizing for Defense (1938-41)

• Why was the NRC not effective in the technological mobilization of US civilian scientists for defense against Germany right before WW-II?– As a private nonprofit institution (part of the National Academy of

Sciences), it did not have enough political, or military influence and did not have enough financial resources.

• What was a model organization at that time (before NDRC and OSRD) that had a more influential position in defining and making possible defense research by civilians?– NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a

government agency (unlike the NRC) It received an annual financial authorization from Congress to advance aviation.

– It awarded research contracts to academic and industrial laboratories.

– It had the respect and support of the military and carried out cooperative efforts on large projects.

Ch. XIX, cont'd• Who was Vannevar Bush and how did he change

the infrastructure of science and technologydefense research right before World War II?– Bush wrote, Science, the Endless Frontier— quoted in

Science in the National Interest by the Clinton Admin.– He was Dean of Engineering at MIT and an effective

facillitator of his own and other scientists' research– He became a member of Compton's Science Advisory Board and Chair of NACA (in

1939) where he became increasingly involved in governmental science– Among the most influential and politically savvy scientists of the 20th century — he

was a very practical entrepeneur who was politically conservative– He conceived the notion of developing a new federal agency to coordinate defense

research. This became the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), which he headed.

– The NDRC was funded directly by Roosevelt. Like the NACA it had the power to award grants for military research to universities and to industry. However NDRC was limited by the military to conduct research, but not development of new weapons.

– Bush managed to convince Roosevelt to create a new organization — the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) which controlled development as well as research and planning of new defense technologies independently of the military and received a direct Congressional appropriation. He later created the NSF.

Video of Vannevar Bush

Kevles notes: Chs. XX-XXV

Physics 3000, Spring 2015,

Science and Public Policy

Instructor: M. Goldman

Ch. XX A physicist’s war

• The atom bomb only ended the war, what won it?– Ans: Radar at cm wavelengths. Explain its use!

• Submarine detection from the air; blind bombing.

• What is radiation at cm wavelengths?– Ans: Electromagnetic radiation.

• How is the radiation produced?– Ans: By a vacuum tube called a magnetron

• Where can magnetrons be found today?– Ans: In every kitchen. It is how the microwaves in microwave ovens are

generated. These have the same wavelength as microwave radar.

• What other modern convenience is based on the microwave techology developed for radar during WW-II?– Ans: Cell phones!

• What impact did WW-II have on education in science?– Drive for better high-school courses, more students in physics.– Westinghouse talent search & scholarships– Draft deferments for scientists

Videos• First test of A-Bomb

– Video of Oppenheimer at first atomic bomb test. • What did Oppenheimer say, and what do you imagine he thought, meant

and felt?

– Why was this a pivotal event in the relationship between science and goverment

– How is it still influencing public affairs and national security

– How did this event relate to basic science and to socially purposeful science then and now?

• Hiroshima

Ch. XXI: The bomb & Postwar Research Policy

• What was the Manhattan project and where was it carried out?– U.S. government sponsored project to develop the first atomic bombs at

Los Alamos (Now Los Alamos National Laboratories).

• Who carried out the research?– Mostly university research professors who were recruited by the

government. – Led by Robert Oppenheimer. Many refugees from Europe were

instrumental.

• What was the attitude of the scientists?– Many were convinced this was necessary to shorten the war and save

American lives.– Widespread belief that the U.S. was competing with Germany in

development of the bomb.– Many misgivings - especially Oppenheimer.

• Was the development of the atomic bomb morally reprehensible?

Chs. XXI & XXII: The bomb & Postwar Research Policy, Victory for Elitism• What were the principle issues underlying the Kilgore-Bush

controversy over the mission of the National Science Foundation right before it was officially established?– Kilgore:

• Fed gov't to finance basic research, including civilian-controlled defense research.

• Need-based socially purposeful science would be encouraged.• Recommendations were to be made to president, who would control NSF.• Social sciences to be supported.• Some geographical distribution.• Patents go to gov't instead of to subcontractees.

– Bush• Gov't should fund science directly (through peer review)• Best-science elitism rather than geographic distribution.• President does not have direct control of NSF• No socially purposeful science. Intellectual freedom to pursue basic

science.• No social science.• Patents go to researcher and industry.