It’s amazing where you can find inspiration for shapes and forms.
This week I was working outside of Chicago. Discovering a few free hours I took advantage of the opportunity to stop by the visitors center at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. It is a beautiful property populated with bison. The fields and forested areas make you feel as if you fell through a worm hole into another place. With the scenery, it’s hard to believe that civilization is so close and some of the most advanced science is happening beneath your feet.
While contemplating one of the pictures of a particle collision, a Fermilab associate, Mary, rounded the corner and inquired if I understood what I was seeing. We discussed the patterns of the sub-atomic particles for a few minutes and the exciting news of C.E.R.N this week. She then asked if I was interested in seeing Cockcroft Walton. Without the vaguest idea of who she was referring to I simply agreed.
We stepped out of the visitor’s center heading across a parking lot and along a path through the woods (There was a georgeous log of walnut laying near that path!). We entered into the back of an industrial building and into what looked like the boiler room of an old high school.
Mary took a few minutes to explain a little about the science of Fermilab and then took me to a window to meet Cockcroft…..
Is this not the coolest, Buck Rogers looking kind of a thing you have ever seen! Who knows where it will eventually lead, but as I stood in awe, dozens of forms passed through my head. Someday…. hopefully before the elusive Higgs Boson is found, I will be dedicating a few pieces to all the hardworking and dedicated staff of Fermilab.
Mary was off the clock and on her way home. She was working on an hours sleep due to the launch of Cern the night before, yet she took another hour out of her day and provided me with a special tour of the accelerator facility. Why? Was it simple passion for her work or maybe a simple desire to share the mysteries of the universe with others?
Whatever the reason I felt like a dignitary for that hour. In this faced paced, everybody for themselves world, it is amazing to find people like Mary, and Fermilab is lucky to have an associate like her.
If you’re ever in the area, stop by! – www.fnal.gov
