The Wilson Era

II. The Wilson Era
By late 1966 Weston, Illinois had been selected as the site for the new National Accelerator Laboratory. Robert R. Wilson from Cornell University was appointed by URA in 1967 as the first Director of the National Accelerator Laboratory (NAL).

The first offices were established in an Oak Brook office building while the site was prepared for the incoming physicists and engineers. Edwin Goldwasser from the University of Illinois became Wilson's Deputy Director. Harvard Professor Norman Ramsey, President of URA, provided strong support during the organization and design of the Laboratory.

The Village of Weston houses were converted to offices once the Laboratory moved west to develop the accelerator and the site. Native American names were given to the streets in the new village, preserving this legacy in our history.

Groundbreaking for the first stage of acceleration, the Linear Accelerator, was held on December 1, 1968.

The Main Ring accelerator was constructed from 1969 until 1971.

The design energy of 200 GeV was reached in March 1972 and this success was celebrated by the entire NAL staff in the basement of Wilson Hall, then under construction. They had done the job faster and for less money than anyone had thought possible.

As the research areas developed, it was vital to preserve the aesthetics and natural beauty of the site. The Big Woods were carefully protected and an annual Arbor Day celebration was initiated to cultivate the green spaces of the Laboratory. Many of the original farmhouses dotting the landscape of the 6800 acre site were preserved and gathered adjacent to the Weston houses to provide housing for visiting scientists. A herd of North American Bison also came to reside at NAL in 1969. Restoration of the native prairie began in 1971.

During the early 1970's the three beamlines delivering protons from the accelerator to the Fixed Target Experimental Areas of the Laboratory -- the Meson Area, Neutrino Area and Proton Area -- were constructed while the research experiments for those areas were proposed to the administration. "Users" came to the NAL from many nations to explore the frontiers of physics at the highest energy accelerator in the world. Pushing even further into the frontier, the Main Ring attained 400 GeV in December, 1972 and then ran briefly at 500 GeV in May, 1976.

One of the aspects of the research program that Wilson hoped to nurture was the medical application of beam therapy in the treatment of cancer. Neutron beams from the Linac have been used for this purpose since 1976.

Our identity has been "Fermilab" since May 1974, when the Laboratory was dedicated and renamed Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in honor of the internationally renowned Italian physicist Enrico Fermi. He had achieved the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago in 1942. Mrs. Laura Fermi, widow of Enrico, participated in the Dedication Ceremony held on the steps of the newly constructed "High Rise" - now called Robert Rathbun Wilson Hall.

The award-winning design of Wilson Hall, often compared with the cathedrals of France, was a collaborative effort with Wilson himself the leader of the architecture team.

The search for new particles using the accelerator at Fermilab produced a major discovery in the summer of 1977 when the first evidence for the bottom quark was observed. The experiment was conducted in the Proton Area by a collaborative team of 17 physicists from three institutions, led by Leon Lederman from Columbia University.

The need to reap the most significant physics results during the difficult economic times of the 1970's provided the foundation for Fermilab's next frontier, the Energy Doubler/Saver. Wilson had first proposed the idea of an Energy Doubler to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in 1971. Making use of the innovative and cost-saving technology of superconductivity, a ring of superconducting magnets added to the Main Ring was frequently proposed to double the energy of the complex of Fermilab's accelerators. Approval finally came in 1979.

Meanwhile, physicists and engineers were working to create and invent the necessary provisions for future expeditions into the unknown of high energy physics because neither the technology or materials existed anywhere at that time. The superconducting cable used in the Doubler magnets, as well as the process providing successful maintenance of superconducting temperatures allowing delivery of doubled energy through these magnets, were all invented at Fermilab. The superconducting magnets were installed below the Main Ring by March, 1983.

Norman Ramsey (1 of 58)
Glenn Seaborg, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Otto Kerner, Governor of Illinois, Arthur Theriault, President of the Village of Weston and Senator Paul Douglas, visiting the Weston site (2 of 58)
Welcome to Weston, 1966 (3 of 58)
The plaque acknowledging the contributions of the Village of Weston. It was installed in November, 1968. Pictured are representatives at the ceremony including, from the right, NAL physicist Francis Cole and Arthur Theriault, President of the Village of Weston (4 of 58)
The plaque acknowledging the contributions of the Village of Weston, November 1968. It is located at the corner of Neuqua and Shabbona streets in the Fermilab Village (5 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson, Director of the National Accelerator Laboratory (6 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson, Director of NAL, and Edwin L. Goldwasser, Deputy Director of NAL, 1967 (7 of 58)
First offices of the National Accelerator Laboratory in the Oak Brook Executive Office Plaza, 1301 W. 22nd St. Oak Brook, IL 60521 (8 of 58)
Norman F. Ramsey, President of URA, speaking at the Groundbreaking ceremony for the NAL Linac, held on December 1, 1968 (9 of 58)
Flag-Raising ceremony at the NAL Village, near Batavia, Illinois, held Sept. 24, 1968. Flag is being raised in front of Director's Office by Paul McDaniel, Dir., Research Division, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Washington, D.C. Among others in this photo are: Francis T. Cole & Donald Getz, Asst. Dir. of NAL; Edwin L. Goldwasser, Deputy Director of NAL; Robert R. Wilson, Director of NAL; and M. Stanley Livingston, Associate Director of National Accelerator Laboratory (10 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson, Director of NAL & Kennedy Brooks, Area Manager for AEC, standing in front of Directors' Office on September 24, 1968, the day of the Flag Raising ceremony (11 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson speaking to members of the NAL staff from the steps of the Curia, the administrative offices in the Village, June 4, 1970 (12 of 58)
Sign indicating the offices within the NAL Village, 1968 (13 of 58)
The Batavia High School band performed at the NAL Groundbreaking ceremony, held on December 1, 1968 (14 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson, Director NAL, welcoming guests at the Linac Groundbreaking ceremonies. December 1, 1968 (15 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson and Glenn Seaborg at the NAL Groundbreaking, December 1, 1968 (16 of 58)
Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission; Lewis V. Morgan, Jr., Chairman, Illinois Atomic Energy Commission; (below) U.S. Representative from Illinois Melvin Price; (above) State Representative Jack Hill; Harvey Pearson, Member of Illinois Atomic Energy Commission; (above-unknown); (below) State Senator Robert W. Mitchler, Secretary Illinois AEC; James N. Ramey, Commissioner, AEC; John F. Fyan, member of the Illinois AEC; and Norman F. Ramsey, president of the Universities Research Association at the Linac groundbreaking ceremony. 12/01/68 (17 of 58)
Engineering Services house open to guests after the Linac groundbreaking. December 1, 1968 (18 of 58)
Public Information house and press bus ready for the NAL Linac groundbreaking ceremony. December 1, 1968 (19 of 58)
Edwin L. Goldwasser, Deputy Director, NAL User's meeting in the Curia, December 2, 1968 (20 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson's hand raised high during the Groundbreaking for the Main Ring Accelerator in October, 1969 (21 of 58)
Robert R. Wilson, Director of NAL, at the Groundbreaking for the Main Ring, October, 1969 (22 of 58)
Digging the trench for the Main Ring tunnel (23 of 58)
Installing a magnet in the Main Ring tunnel (24 of 58)
Aerial view of the NAL Accelerators, 1971 (25 of 58)
It was 5:28 p.m. Friday afternoon, April 16, 1971, when the final magnet was put in place to complete the four-mile Main Accelerator Ring at the NAL. Here, Robert R. Wilson, Director, is congratulated by AEC Chairman Glenn T. Seaborg (26 of 58)
Milestone of 200 GeV reached on March 1, 1972 (27 of 58)
Wilson toasts the NAL staff on their success, March 1, 1972 (28 of 58)
The Schimelpfenig farm is in the center with the Big Woods on the top left, November, 1968 (29 of 58)
The best of the farm homes on the 6,800 acre Fermilab site were moved to a new location adjacent to the Fermilab village, the former village of Weston, Illinois. The farm homes were remodeled into apartments for visiting scientists who come to work at Fermilab. In the photograph the farm homes are seen adjacent to Sauk Circle (30 of 58)
On Arbor Day 1978, Chinese visitors helped Fermilab employees, including Director Robert R. Wilson and Deputy Director Edwin L. Goldwasser, plant trees (31 of 58)
The Krafft/Kuhn homestead on Batavia Road in 1968. It now serves as the Housing Office for Fermilab (32 of 58)
The buffalo herd came to Fermilab from Colorado and Wyoming in September, 1969 (33 of 58)
Professor Robert Betz talking to Director Robert Wilson and Mrs. Jane Wilson and volunteers for the Prairie Restoration Project (34 of 58)
An early plan for the experimental physics facilities at Fermilab (35 of 58)
An aerial view of Fermilab, 1977. The largest circle is the main accelerator. Three experimental lines extend at a tangent from the accelerator. The 16-story twin-towered central Laboratory is seen at the base of the experimental lines (36 of 58)
Experimenters in the Proton Area , including Wonyong Lee, John Peoples, Leon Lederman, Lincoln Read, Brad Cox, and Jim Sanford (37 of 58)
Some of the Soviet collaborators in the first experiment at NAL, E36, including V.A. Nikitin with Ernest Malamud of NAL (38 of 58)
Edwin Goldwasser, Frank Cole and Robert Wilson at the controls of the Main Ring (39 of 58)

The invited speakers for the Dedication of the Laboratory ceremony, May 11, 1974 (40 of 58)
Guests attending the Dedication of the Laboratory ceremony, May 11, 1974 (41 of 58)
Norman F. Ramsey, Robert R. Wilson, Senator Charles Percy and Edwin L. Goldwasser at the Dedication ceremony, May 11, 1974 (42 of 58)
Senator Charles Percy and Robert R. Wilson after the Dedication ceremony, May 11, 1974 (43 of 58)
K.C. and Jean Brooks with an AEC official at the Dedication ceremony, May 11, 1974 (44 of 58)
The High Rise (45 of 58)
The High Rise (46 of 58)
The High Rise (47 of 58)
The High Rise (48 of 58)
President Lyndon B. Johnson presents the National Medal of Science to Prof. Leon M. Lederman of Columbia University, February 10, 1966 (49 of 58)
ICFA members meeting in 1976 including Leon Lederman (third from left) and Robert Wilson (fourth from left) (50 of 58)
Data for the discovery of the bottom quark (51 of 58)
Upsilon muon spectrometers in P-Center experimental pit (52 of 58)
John Yoh (seated), L. Lederman (53 of 58)
Before electronic data analysis, human scanners visually examined photographs of Bubble Chamber particle interactions (54 of 58)
The single strand composite wire shows the 2200 individual filaments as well as two versions of the cable. Note the details of the electrical insulation around the cable. The coils of Fermilab's superconducting mangets are made of a noibium-titanium alloy that is superconducting when kept at approximately -450 degrees F. (4.6 degrees Kelvin). Superconductivity is the phenomenon, exhibited by certain metals and alloys, of continuously conducting electrical current withou resistance when cooled to temperatures near absolute zero. To achive these cryogenic temperatures the niobium-titanium coils in the Tevatron magnets are surrounded by a cryostat designed to provide space for a continuous flow of liquid helium around the coils. The use of superconducting technology enables the Tevatron to provide a magnetic field of 45 kilogauss and to increase the energy to one trillion electron volts (55 of 58)
Installation of the final magnet into the Energy Doubler, March 1983. In the background are Leon Lederman, Dick Lundy, and Andy Mravca (56 of 58)
Installation of Last Superconducting Magnet. Helen Edwards. March 18, 1983 (57 of 58)
Inside view of the Tevatron (58 of 58)

NEXT: III. Transition