Europe's big bang

The scientific and economic advantages to be gained through the LHC project, which is costing billions, remain uncertain. The German daily Frankfurter Rundschau nonetheless praises CERN as a model European institution. "Over half a century ago European politicians had the courage ... to invest a lot of money in scientific experiments and found the European laboratory for particle physics CERN. ... This faith in the future displayed by the politicians of the day has unquestionably been richly rewarded. It was one of the first projects for European cooperation - transcending all linguistic and national barriers. ... CERN is one of the early crystallisation points in the success story of Europe's unification - and beyond that. ... It may not be easy to explain of what practical use the new CERN facility could be. ... Yet the past has demonstrated that the money has for the large part been well invested. How many people are aware nowadays that it was at CERN, of all places, that the World Wide Web was programmed - or in other words, the Internet as we now know it?"

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