Science with light

Project

Following the success of a previous booklet I wrote for public engagement, the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland asked me to write a second booklet around Science with Light.

Insight

The Swiss Light Source SLS at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is a super-microscope that can reveal features a million times smaller than a grain of sand. It makes super-bright, pin-point sharp beams of X-rays and ultraviolet light.

Nobel Prize winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK used data collected at the Swiss Light Source to work out the structure of the ribosome, one of the largest and most important molecules in a human cell.

A second x-ray light source, the SwissFEL x-ray free-electron laser is complementary to the Swiss Light Source and allows investigations into extremely fast processes. SwissFEL makes powerful ultrashort pulses of X-rays with the properties of laser light that can make movies of atoms and molecules in motion.

The two research facilities operate together to meet the growing demand for state-of-the-art beams of x-rays and ultraviolet light.

Communication

After meeting and talking with researchers, I wrote a 32 page booklet in clear language requiring only a limited starting knowledge of science. Large photographs of the facilities and people at work give a human scale connection. The short stories describe a wide range of science investigations and make connections to everyday life. The booklet is available in English, German and French.

People 

I worked closely with the communications team and researchers to ensure the booklet represented the science and institute accurately and worked with Scanderbeg Sauer Photography in Zurich to create the images.