From buffalo to bottom quarks, Fermilab is connected with frontier exploration and discovery. Fermilab has stood at the frontier of physics for 40 years and is home to trail-blazing scientific breakthroughs, including the discoveries of the top and bottom quarks.

This lecture reveals how and why Fermilab came to Illinois and discusses the founders of Fermilab: two Nobel Prize winners and a maverick cowboy physicist. Rooted in the Manhattan Project, the Lab’s history spans the Cold War years as it became the most powerful high energy accelerator in the world. Exemplifying science in harmony with nature, this talk will highlight Fermilab’s attention to art and architecture and consideration for the lived environment through green space, prairie restoration, and even a herd of buffalo. 

Adrienne Kolb is the co-author of the new book, Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier and Megascience, the first history of Fermilab. It also illuminates the growth of the modern research laboratory and captures the drama of human exploration at the cutting-edge of science.

Recorded Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at The Newberry Library.