On today’s Modern Notion Daily podcast, we’re talking with Michael Hiltzik, author of Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex (Simon & Schuster, July 2015). Hiltzik chronicles the life of Lawrence and his machine, the cyclotron (also known as the proton accelerator). This invention, Hiltzik argues, was the beginning of the military-industrial complex and “big science.” Later in the hour, we replay a story by reporter Daniel A. Gross about the post-World War II life of the cyclotron.

Music this hour:

• “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within
• “Theme E” by Steve Combs & Delta Is, from the album Themes (Vol. 1)
• “The Professor’s Lab” by Christian Bjoerklund, from the album Skapmat
• “Electron” by Podington Bear, from the album Reflective
• “Superconductivity” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel