Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson, and Adrienne W. Kolb
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226294797
- eISBN:
- 9780226305837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226305837.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The SSC had to be “sold” to Congress and US taxpayers, for a project costing billions of dollars required strong public support. Central Design Group physicists kept Congress and its staffers ...
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The SSC had to be “sold” to Congress and US taxpayers, for a project costing billions of dollars required strong public support. Central Design Group physicists kept Congress and its staffers informed about the project’s scientific goals with colorful brochures and frequent visits. But newspaper and magazine articles aimed at non-physicist readers typically emphasized the collider’s great size and high cost over its research. Other scientists (especially condensed-matter physicists) began questioning the project — ultimately before Congress. DOE officials also found the SSC a hard sell at foreign science agencies, especially in Europe. Partly to help build support for the project, DOE initiated a national SSC site-selection competition in 1987. Most states championed their “green-field” sites, while Illinois advocated building the collider adjacent to Fermilab, reusing its existing infrastructure. From the eight sites named as finalists in December 1987, DOE officials selected the Waxahachie, Texas, site in November 1988.Less
The SSC had to be “sold” to Congress and US taxpayers, for a project costing billions of dollars required strong public support. Central Design Group physicists kept Congress and its staffers informed about the project’s scientific goals with colorful brochures and frequent visits. But newspaper and magazine articles aimed at non-physicist readers typically emphasized the collider’s great size and high cost over its research. Other scientists (especially condensed-matter physicists) began questioning the project — ultimately before Congress. DOE officials also found the SSC a hard sell at foreign science agencies, especially in Europe. Partly to help build support for the project, DOE initiated a national SSC site-selection competition in 1987. Most states championed their “green-field” sites, while Illinois advocated building the collider adjacent to Fermilab, reusing its existing infrastructure. From the eight sites named as finalists in December 1987, DOE officials selected the Waxahachie, Texas, site in November 1988.
