In the beginning

1
In the beginning

• there is/was Daresbury

From Roger Clifft clifftr_at_mail.cern.ch Sent
22 May 2008 1342 To Dainton, JB (John) Subject
Re David Saxon? Hello John,
I do not remember much about this time either. I
just remember a fresh faced enthusiastic young
lad appeared at the lunch table announced as the
nephew(?) of Godfrey Saxon who was in charge of
the rf of the Daresbury synchrotron. Best
wishes Roger
? it all started because of accelerator physics
? Ernie Alton radiative corrections? - we
were busy trying to get first beam (EG)
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and on to dreaming spires

• the hidden undergraduate years
• never inquire I didnt dare !

?
but he sure did well because they took him on in
13 Banbury Road the Nuclear Physics
Laboratory the challenges of pp ? ppN the
isobar model
and even the Veneziano amplitude ! Who
else could have put both together? Didnt
someone ever tell him about pp phase
shifts? Private communication DHP ? JBD OUNPL
coffee lounge, 1969
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dreaming spires
which brings us to the age of NAM/RRH/JBD as
primary source historians so nothing can
possibly now be disputed !
Scene 13 Banbury Road, basement October 1st
1969 Curtain rises on three spanking new DPhil
students Norman McCubbin Ron Horgan JBD (and
look where they are now) sitting at their new
desks surrounded by almost new, completely
unused, bubble chamber kit the British
National no less!
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dreaming spires
Sudden thundering of footsteps on
outside staircase, then dramatic entrance door
right a fresh faced, (little less) young, and
enthusiastic lad, beaming and almost with a
brand new DPhil. DHS Hi ! You must be the new
boys. Ive just handed in my thesis. I must
tell you the facts of life here when Ive got
a moment. Exit (with similar drama) through
door, with more thundering footsteps, and
upstairs. Trio at desks havent (dared) move
since entrance. They remain motionless (stunned),
overwhelmed, shock and awe?
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dreaming spires
Silence (eventually ?) broken by one occupant
(later identified as the theorist of the trio,
and one not known for his dulcet tone)
exclaiming that its flat if its integrable.
The principle of Monte Carlo generation had
been rediscovered yet again, no doubt stimulated
by events, by immediate surroundings, and by DHP
intent on verifying dE/dx. Sudden thundering
again of footsteps on outside staircase, then
again dramatic entrance door right of fresh
faced . DHS Ive got time right now.
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dreaming spires
At this moment the combined memories of what was
to become two experimentalists and one theorist
must have collectively failed to function (shock
and awe?) for there seems to be no further
recollection of what happened, which is probably
just as well, other than it took 2 hours, and
all agree that, on balance, they were probably
the better for it !
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and on to the NAL

• where physics was beginning again
• and where charm always was!

Our main focus was the single-arm spectrometer
measurement of high transverse momentum leptons,
starting with electrons. There, we did see a
signal a signal at the surprisingly constant
level of 10-4 of the rate of charged hadrons
produced. This level remained unexplained until
the discovery of charm particles, Jeff
Appel email May 2008
and the boots on the OUNPL lecture theatre
bench when the prodigal returned to give a
seminar JBD ageing memory probably 1971 OUNPL
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soon to become FNAL
Leon was very supportive of his team, writing
to R. R. Wilson about his sharing of the angst
of our good young people, their exuberance
stilled, their lively pace slowed to a shamble,
their hungry, pleading eyes averted, aging,
proton-less. Wilsons answer I am touched by
the plight of your piteous young people. Believe
me, their angst is my angst It shall not be. One
tries the more. Fly the banner. Sound the charge!
Youth shall be served. Protons shall be theirs
and soon!
Oh STFC, how and why did you go so wrong? Its
the young people, stupid.
I sincerely believe, David, that you should be
proud of your achievements in the foundation of
this experimental program at Fermilab, which is,
according to many people, one of the most
important ones in high-energy physics. Maurice
Bourquin email May 2008
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and back to RAL
the challenges of pp physics pp ? K? more
phase shifts and
definitive analysis of a great tradition _at_ RAL,
pp partial wave analysis elastic and
inelastic measurements which will never be
repeated, measurements which are at the basis of
the definition of quark degrees of freedom, an
unchallengable legacy
while also defining TASSO for PETRA (DHS)
and while North Britain engaged in PLUTO/CELLO
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PS A later interlude
Years ago, in a bygone era when US particle
physics was beginning to anticipate the
construction of a 20 TeV collider at the Ronald
Reagan Laboratory deep in the heart of Texas,
a young and dynamic, may be even soon to be,
Kelvin Professor and I found ourselves on the
way together to a workshop in Vancouver. It was
(evidently) a memorable trip for a number of
reasons. Memories of a grumpy old Liverpool Prof
2008 (JBD)
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in the New World
? travelling with a (soon to be) Kelvin Prof
- Oxford to Vancouver via Gatport
- on two Wardair Airbus engines ?
- distance 3,900 miles - range 3,600
nautical miles
- distance 3,900 miles - range 3,600 miles
- intellectual challenge on return What
happens to the Sun in June viewed at 550 mph
over Baffin Island ?
full, in-flight, Kelvin entertainment (I was
asleep) Wardair no longer trading
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which is history

Quite some team of drift chamber experts!

? you cant win em all
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and the cultural legacy !
? the Kelvin Prof brings North British culture
to North Germany
- international office DESY - charm offensive
(a new angle)
- the importance of the knee to Scots culture
- the Saxon clan ?
- the McSaxon tartan ?
exclusive
? conclusive evidence now unearthed
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Summary
? this Kelvin Prof is special - distinguished
scientist and aerodynamic engineer
(including relativistic planetary dynamics at
midnight over the Arctic) - inspiring teacher
in difficult environments (basements) -
entertaining traveller, raconteur and wit
who manifestly spans the great divide (the
Tweed) and is understood on both sides of the
border - sartorially innovative and adaptable
(with good knees) - survived lesser
collaborators on failed projects
? this lesser collaborator always found it a
privilege and a pleasure ! Thank you David