“Preservation of the Laboratory Is Not a Mission.” Gradual Organizational Renewal in National Laboratories in Germany and the USA

Abstract

The scientific utilization of very large and costly infrastructure-often referred to as "Big Science"-originated with the rise of competition between superpowers at the end of World War II and the tremendous belief in (and fear of) nuclear energy that fed into it. The demonstration of the force of nuclear energy over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was essentially the motivation for the initial creation of Big Science laboratories. Generously sponsored national programs for science and technology fostered the development of weapons technologies and civilian use of nuclear