A Political History of Big Science

This book investigates the political history of Big Science in Europe in the late twentieth century and the early twenty-first century, characterised by the founding histories of two collaborative, single-sited facilities namely the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France and the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (European XFEL) in Schenefeld, Germany. Under the heading of the other Europe, this book presents the history and politics of European Big Science as an alternative road to (Western) European integration besides the mainstream political integration process of the European Economic Community and the European Union. It shows that Big Science has a role to play in European politics and policymaking and that the crucial and unavoidable symbiosis between science, technology and politics brings the creation of Big Science projects back to geopolitical realities.

Sheds light on the recent history of Big Science and the role of techno-scientific expertise in the process of European integration Draws on two case studies which have not yet been previously explored from a political history perspective, offering an in-depth analysis of transnational collaborative research Appeals to scholars and students in the fields of European history, transnational history, history of science and technology, STS studies, as well as scientists and policymakers in the respective fields of physics

Autorentext
Katharina C. Cramer is a historian, specialised in the history and politics of science and technology as well as the power of knowledge and innovation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She publishes on the topics of Big Science, research infrastructures and the politics of science, technology and knowledge.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction and Framework .- Chapter 2: Historical Viewpoints on Collaborative Large-Scale Research in Europe.- Chapter 3: Establishing the First Collaborative Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Europe: The Founding History of the ESRF (1977-1988).- Chapter 4: Founding the European XFEL: The Establishment of a Collaborative Free-Electron Laser, 1992-2009.- Chapter 5: Conclusion and Outlook.