An interesting article in CNN about the super-collider in Switzerland:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/30/doomsdaycollider.ap/index.html
What I find most interesting are viewpoints of the doubters, the 'what might go wrong,' and how that might spark ideas for stories.
Too...the what-might-be-discovered opens up all kinds of possibilities.
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Last night we had some friends over for dinner. Unfortunately, the husband is a rocket scientist and a science fiction fan and wanted to tell me how to write my book. I think that science fiction should have good science, but I'm not going for realism over story. Articles like this one prove once again that NO ONE WILL NOTICE if I fudge the science.
Yeh--real scientist know-it-alls are irritating and most people won't notice, but there are those who do and kids who learn from what you write. And, there may be a kind of ethical mandate for science fiction writers to keep to what is at least feasible. I'm thinking of two of the granddaddies of science fiction--Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov--who used good science to further their stories. Robert Heinlein, in particular, was actually a science teacher, and Asimov lectured at universities. I know that reading Heinlein's YA stuff taught me tons about certain scientific principles. So, even if you aren't absolutely accurate, try to keep it close. Also, several of Asimov's literary inventions are now real--like positronic robots. Surely real science won't hinder your story, will it? I like your story tons and it's the verisimilitude that is part of what I like.
Don't worry, I'm planning on being very accurate. Today I read up on biological warfare and printed out several diagrams of Titan II missile silos.
What irritated me was his insistence that my apocalypse scenario be perfectly thought out. That's not the focus of the story! I don't want to write a 7000 page Tom Clancy novel about how the world ended.
Ah--now I see and good for you to do the research. The more research you do, the more original your book, because those that have done it before won't have had the up-to-date information you have. You are right not to want to write a Tom Clancy novel. You are your own writer and your story is original to you, even if elements of it have been done before. The way you write it will be unique.
The funny thing (if anyone reads back this far... late on commenting) is that I just finished a book by Jack McDevitt (and excellent sci fi writer) and I'm pretty sure he used the story of this super-collider for part of his story. It was quite interesting!
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