Physics and Frankfurt

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Frankfurt book fair, where the Austrian publisher Edition Lammerhuber was launching a new book about the LHC.  It’s a beautiful volume, based on the photographs of Peter Ginter, who has been covering CERN for many years, and an essay by celebrated author Franzobel.

I had no doubt that the book would find success, but what really surprised me is how much interest there was at the book fair for CERN and the LHC in particular. Mr Lammerhuber had put on a splendid show, with CERN people available to explain our work, and a stand designed, also with the help of  CERN personnel, to resemble the CERN Control Centre. Throughout the time I was there, his stand was by far the most popular place to be in the hall where science and culture books were presented, and the book’s presence in Frankfurt generated much positive coverage for CERN in the German media.

Coming hot on the heels of the Ars Electronica festival of digital arts, as well as the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts and the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum, all of which gave CERN a high profile, Frankfurt serves to underline just how far we’ve come in bringing our science into mainstream culture. People are talking about science again, and in an era where everyone’s life is intricately linked to science and technology, that’s an extremely positive development.

Rolf Heuer

The Edition Lammerhuber book is tri-lingual, English, French and German. It is available in the library and will soon be available at the CERN gift shop.

Please read also "A table top LHC".