Neutron Scattering in Europe

Neutron scattering began in Europe, as in the United States, as a parasitic activity at nuclear reactors designed to operate as irradiation facilities or to test reactor technology. Through the 1950s and 1960s, research using neutron beams involved only a small number of scientists. Most of these scientists were from the reactor centers, although by the late 1960s the participation of university scientists was apparent, notably at the Munich and Harwell reactors. Nevertheless, the general picture remained one in which neutron‐scattering experiments, which were principally in solid‐state physics, were carried out by small groups of scientists somewhat isolated from the academic and industrial communities. Even when reactors designed to produce neutron beams became available, scientists working on neutron scattering remained relatively isolated.