Elementary particle physics research on the Hill began in the 1930s—but the field got a huge boost with the World War II-era invention of the synchrotron, a device that propels particles to extremely high energies through a narrow vacuum tube surrounded by magnets.
Newman Lab, home to Cornell’s first synchrotron, opened in 1948. Located on the northern edge of central campus behind Clark and Savage/Kinzelberg halls, it also housed machine and electronics shops.
The facility quickly led to groundbreaking advances—and the rapid acceleration (pun intended) of the University’s particle physics research program.