In December of 1951, at a time of high tension in Europe, representatives from twelve nations met in Paris and agreed to create a new, international center dedicated to peaceful nuclear research. Three years later, it officially launched in Switzerland as the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, or CERN. Its members included two former Axis countries (West Germany and Italy) along with Yugoslavia and the United Kingdom, all treated as equals. European politicians applauded a project that prevented brain drain to the United States; scientists celebrated the opportunity to collaborate on some of the biggest questions in physics.
