ABSTRACT
Every morning, a few minutes before nine o’clock, Markus goes to work: he puts on a protective suit and heads for the laboratory. But the laboratory where Markus does his research has a circumference of 27 kilometres. He uses a duty car to move from one part of the laboratory to another, crossing the border between Switzerland and France many times a day to do so. A special lift takes him to 100 metres under the ground, where he greets his colleagues: 16 of them, among their number, physicists, engineers and other technicians, with whom Markus communicates in two foreign languages. The apparatus necessary for the team’s research is produced in 13 different countries. The experiment on which they are currently engaged will last several months, during which time several people will join and leave the group.
