The unique breed of particle physicists constitutes a community of sophisticated mythmakers--explicators of the nature of matter who forever alter our views of space and time. But who are these people? What is their world really like? Sharon Traweek, a bold and original observer of culture, opens the door to this unusual domain and offers us a glimpse into the inner sanctum.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue: An Anthropologist Studies Physicists
Touring the Site: Powerful Places in the Laboratory
Inventing Machines That Discover Nature: Detectors at SLAC and KEK
Pilgrim's Progress: Male Tales Told During a Life in Physics
Ground States: Distinctions and the Ties That Bind
Buying Time and Taking Space: Negotiations, Collaboration, and Change
