Beamtimes and Lifetimes

The episode of The Big Bang Theory that I described in my previous post reminded me of Beamtimes and Lifetimes, by anthropologist and historian Sharon Traweek (UCLA).



The book is a detailed portrait of the world of particle physics from a cultural anthropologist's perspective. Traweek did "field work" among the very odd tribe of particle physicists at KEK, SLAC and Fermilab :-) Though imperfect, it paints a very recognizable picture of our community. I found it quite enlightening when I read it as a grad student.