NYT Op-Ed: Brian Greene on the Large Hadron Collider

He provides a summary tenable to those with only a passing interest in physics (or astronomy) which addresses, in my opinion, all the major issues succintly.

I may be biased as a bit of a nerd (especially when it comes to astronomy, though being city-borne, I’m still without an excuse for a telescope.  I’d feel guilty about driving 80km out of the city just to look at the stars and I the light pollution eliminates most of the heavens from my view), but I do see the LHC as one of humanity’s Great Works, in line with the products of the space race and the Internet.  I’ve become so cynical that I am absolutely wowed when nations come together to make a contribution to the wealth of man’s understanding of the universe.  Perhaps the rest of the world lacks the politicization of the US, but I find it hard to fathom how $8 billion could be corralled without a massive lobbying effort and promises to source parts production in certain congressional districts.

… and the cow goes moo