ABSTRACT
Charged particle accelerators drive a large sector of modern research in sub-atomic physics, in material, and in life sciences. Moreover, they play an ever-increasing role in medical applications, both for therapy and for diagnostic purposes. Most of these accelerators are large installations, but also smaller accelerators are used to modify material properties or to sterilize medical waste. Even old-fashioned thick-screen TV sets accelerate and guide charged particles, electrons, in an evacuated vessel and guide them to a screen, where they produce light that we experience as TV images. In this book we answer the question why and how accelerators acquired such a prominent role in modern society, and which technologies are used to satisfy this role. But before discussing the scientific and technical aspects, we briefly recall the history of charged particle accelerators. For a more detailed exposé the reader is referred to [3].
