1087 



U.S. PARTICIPATION AT CERN 141 



the advent of complete computer links from CERN to U.S. home institu- 

 tions and the implied possibility that much of the off-line (if not on-line) 

 data analysis can be done in the United States, this mode is expected to 

 evolve more fully. 



• Participation of U.S. scientists in parallel or competing experimen- 

 tal projects. It has been a frequent occurrence that individual U.S. scien- 

 tists on leave from their home institutions participate in CERN ex- 

 periments that are close competitors of the projects they are involved in 

 at home. This practice provides for a critical look at their own enter- 

 prise, a cross-check, and a sharing of experiences and of responses to 

 problems typical of the specific field studied. Sometimes such activities 

 may lead to a repeal rather than a verification of previous results. Both 

 are obviously healthy. 



• The spawning and support of industrial development. This is an 

 area more consciously and vigorously pursued by CERN (and, for that 

 matter, by DESY) than by U.S. laboratories: The highly political nature 

 of the CERN Council makes the support of high-technology industries 

 in the member states an important feature of CERN activities. The ac- 

 ceptance of the LEP project, with its $450 million price tag, was a con- 

 troversial item for some time; remarkably, CERN put out a 33-page list 

 of items expected to be developed and supplied by European industries, 

 from "hi-tech" to civil engineering, complete with name and telephone 

 extension of the CERN project engineer to be contacted for details. In- 

 teraction with CERN developments, frequently through U.S. scientists 

 working there, but also by direct contacts, has heavily influenced the 

 development (and sales) success of U.S. manufacturers of electronics 

 and computing equipment. 



• Providing a sales outlet and testing ground for U.S. electronics and 

 computing manufacturers. The relatively foreseeable and solid funding 

 of CERN experiments has been of considerable importance to a number 

 of U.S. manufacturers— to name but a few, LeCroy Systems and Edger- 

 ton, Germeshausen, and Crier (EGG), in the fast electronics sector; 

 Digital Equipment Corporation and Hewlett-Packard in the computing 

 sector. It is no coincidence that these companies maintain their Euro- 

 pean headquarters in Geneva. (There is little if any reciprocity in this 

 sector: European hi-tech manufacturers have made negligible inroads in 

 the U.S. market.) 



• Access to European scientific documentation and records. 

 Although this may seem a minor point, sharing documentation 

 resources well developed at CERN is an important help to the U.S. high- 

 energy physics community. Europeans, with more of a sense of history 



