We followed Fermilab theorists and experimentalists to see what they discovered, what happened to their lives, and exactly why they would devote themselves to knocking together subatomic particles approaching the speed of light.
As drama unfolded in Illinois, politicians and journalists gave external perspective to the story. The following scientists, journalists, and politicians were interviewed during production.
Natalie Angier
Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist for The New York Times.
Judy Biggert
Congresswoman from Illinois' 13th District of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Marcela Carena
Fermilab theorist, Higgs boson expert, and seasoned veteran of balancing work and family.
John Conway
Professor of Physics at the University of California, Davis, and a high energy physicist studying the nature of matter, energy, space, and time.
Pietro "Pete" Domenici
Congressman from New Mexico since 1973 and an avid advocate for science research.
Robin Erbacher
Associate Professor at University of California, Davis, working with top quark physics, searches for new particles and phenomena, and particle detector development.
Ben Kilminster
Dr. Kilminster is a particle physics researcher for Ohio State University who currently resides at Fermilab and works with CDF.
Kei Koizumi
Director of the R&D Budget and Policy Program at AAAS and expert of the federal budget, science and technology funding, and local impacts of federal R&D funding.
Edward W. Kolb
Founding head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Group and Director of the Particle Astrophysics Center, focusing on application of elementary particle physics to the very early universe.
Leon Max Lederman
Nobel Prize-winning experimental physicist, Director Emeritus of Fermilab, and founder of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA). Called a "modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci" by the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology, Dr. Lederman's The God Particle inspires The Atom Smashers.
John H. Marburger, III
Science Adviser to the President of the United States, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and, previously, Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Chris Mooney
Journalist specializing in science and politics, correspondent for Seed magazine, American Prospect, Mother Jones, Wired, The Washington Post, and Slate.
Mark Oreglia
Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago heavily involved in planning for the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC).
Dennis Overbye
Deputy Science Editor of The New York Times and author Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award.
Chris Quigg
Member of the Fermilab staff since 1974 and internationally known for his studies of heavy quarks and his insights into particle interactions at ultrahigh energies. Formerly, Deputy Director of the Superconducting Super Collider Central Design Group in Berkeley from 1987 to 1989.
Jeffery Schielke
Seventh-term mayor of Batavia, Illinois, home of Fermilab.