Particle Physics is Important

                               A personal view from Craig Dukes

As particle physicists we delight in discovering new aspects of nature, fundamental aspects of nature that are common to everything - the building blocks of the universe.

We are fortunate to be living in a society where we no longer must struggle just to survive from day to day, but where our prosperity has allowed time and money for more: art, literature, music, science. Is the money spent on particle physics justified? I would reply with a resounding Yes! even if the only return was the pleasure of an increased understanding of nature. But there are technological spin-offs that have more than returned all of the money that has been spent on the pursuit of this knowledge. The most oustanding example is the invention of the World Wide Web at CERN in the late 1980's.