The event is aimed at the CERN community and CERN Alumni and Retirees, therefore physical attendance will require having a valid CERN access card.
CERN Alumni should use this form to request CERN access cards.
The author of the new book "A Concise History of Radiation Detectors: Hunting for the Unknown" will give a talk at the CERN Library:
The development of radiation detectors is closely entangled to the study of elementary particles and of their interactions. From the early observations of cosmic rays using photographic emulsions, to the present complex electronic systems operating in high-energy accelerators, the book describes the evolution of detectors employed in particle physics and astrophysics: cloud and bubble chambers, spark chambers, solid state and gaseous position-sensitive detectors. Major discoveries have been made making use of more and more advanced devices: natural radioactivity, X-rays, p mesons, the positron, the W and the Higgs bosons, only to mention a few. With more than 200 figures and an extended list of references, the book gives a concise but comprehensive description of the evolution and major applications of radiation detectors technologies.
The event will be followed by a Q&A and signing sessions. The book is available from the CERN Library & Bookshop.
About the author:
Fabio Sauli, born in Trieste, Italy, in 1941, obtained a doctorate in Experimental Physics from the University of Trieste and joined CERN in 1969, working in the team of Nobel Laureate Georges Charpak. He later led the Gas Detectors Development group (1992–2006) and made major contributions to gaseous detector technologies, including the invention of the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) in 1998.
He has collaborated with the TERA Foundation and is currently a Contributing Retiree at CERN and member of the DRD1 Collaboration. An invited speaker and former adjunct professor, he has received several distinctions, including an honorary doctorate (Université de Haute Alsace, 2005) and the ICFA Instrumentation Award (2023). He is the author of numerous scientific publications and books on radiation detectors.