The National Synchrotron Light Source, Part I: Bright Idea

The National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) was the first facility designed and built specifically for producing and exploiting synchrotron radiation. It was also the first facility to incorporate the Chasman-Green lattice for maximizing brightness. The NSLS was a $24-million project conceived about 1970. It was officially proposed in 1976, and its groundbreaking took place in 1978. Its construction was a key episode in Brookhaven’s history, in the transition of synchrotron radiation from a novelty to a commodity, and in the transition of synchrotron-radiation scientists from parasitic to autonomous researchers. The way the machine was conceived, designed, promoted, and constructed illustrates much both about the tensions and tradeoffs faced by large scientific projects in the age of big science. In this article, the first of two parts, I cover the conception, design, and planning of the NSLS up to its groundbreaking. Part II, covering its construction, will appear in the next issue. Robert P. Crease is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, and historian at Brookhaven National Laboratory.