How Experiments End

This book is addressed to readers interested in how arguments emerge from the modern physical laboratory. It is neither an overview of particle physics nor a collection of results of 'great experiments' summarized to teach physics. Instead, the book is written for those intrigued by the history, philosophy, and sociology of laboratory science, as well as for working physicists. Motivating the book are several questions: What bits of theory shape experimentalists' faith in a microphysical effect? Which piece of apparatus can they trust? How does the overwhelming historical expansion of the laboratory from bench to factory affect the building of a persuasive argument ?