267 



[)roduced a technological capability of great military and industrial 

 consequence; the same area, with snnilar people, might yield another 

 unexpected bonus. In view of the large and well-documented research 

 etfort in this field in "Western Europe, and the even larger potential 

 effort underway in the Soviet Union,* the implication is also clear 

 that a kind of indirect race involving the national security is under- 

 way, to ''prove a negative." That is, to secure an exhaustive knowledge 

 of the ultimate constitution of matter, in order to show conclusively 

 that it affords no further contributions analogous to the atomic bomb 

 and atomic energy. Unfortunately, there is no assurance that an 

 "exhaustive"' knowledge is obtainable; meanwhile the quest for it 

 rises exponentiall}^ in cost. 



Ind'irect social benefits of high-energy fhysics 



Tlie undeniable benefits of this national science effort are largely in- 

 direct. Great ingenuity is displayed by the high-energy physicists to 

 design experimental apparatus to serve in a field in which the basic 

 hardware and the associated instrumentation are growing in size, com- 

 plexity, sophistication, precision, and cost. Linear accelerators are 

 longer; cyclotrons of greater radius; bubble chambers of larger vol- 

 ume. As the dimensions grow, so does the cost of acquisition and main- 

 tenance: it is not evident, howe\-er, that such derivative benefits as 

 technological gains, spin-off inventions, and industrial expertise 

 continue to accrue commensurately. With increasing size, much of 

 the cost goes into repetitive hardware (magnets and klystron tubes 

 and the like) , housecl in expensive but not extraordinary structures, 

 and supported by a growing army of highly trained but narrowly spe- 

 cialized technologists. 



Those wlio direct and use these installations receive training in the 

 solving of extremely com]:)lex and difhcult problems at a high level of 

 abstraction. These learned equalities are broadly transferable, and un- 

 doubtedly strengthen the national resources in problem solving. 



In a more specific and material way, the outlays for large accek^ra- 

 tors provide ancillary benefits. The keen competition for the site of 

 the 200-Bev accelerator suggests that there are considered to be prac- 

 tical economic advantages in hosting a facility that costs a quarter 

 billion dollars to acquire, and tens of millions annually to operate and 

 man. Such an activity undoubtedly has an economic stimulus in the 

 region where it is located. 



However, the question might also be raised as to whether the tech- 

 nological impact on industry of the hardware requirements for large 

 accelerators might not be actually adverse. The production costs are 

 inherently secondary to quality as a procurement factor; rate of pro- 



* One measure of level of effort is in terms of energy level and number of large acceler- 

 ators in operation. See table : 



