How LBNL Evolved |
|
| Dates | New Disciplines / Areas of Growth |
| 1931 | High-Energy Physics; Lawrence brings engineers and physicists together (team science) |
| 1937 | Nuclear Medicine |
| 1942 | Manhattan Project |
| 1950s | Organic and Physical Chemistry Detector programs |
| 1960s | Materials Science; no more Classified work |
| 1970s | Energy and Environment |
| 1980s | Biology and Genomics |
| 1990s | X-ray based sciences; Computing reinvigorated (NERSC); Nanoscience |
| 2000 | Sustainable Energy Technologies |
| 2010 | Restoring Carbon Cycle Balance |
LBNL was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that made high-energy physics possible.
Lawrence also developed the concept of collaborative “team science” that remains a core element of the Laboratory’s efforts today. This interdisciplinary cooperation allows LBNL to tackle complex scientific issues and “Big Science” that can’t be resolved through the application of a single scientific discipline.
This capability also made it possible for Lawrence’s original “Rad Lab” to evolve into a national laboratory applied to issues ranging from the nanoscale to the cosmological scale.
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