Brookhaven National Laboratory was the first major national laboratory built for basic civilian research. From Nobel Prize-winning work in atomic physics to addressing community concerns over radiation leaks, the history of Brookhaven parallels the changing fortunes of "big science" in the United States. Robert P. Crease brings to life the people, the instruments, the science, and the politics of Brookhaven's first quarter-century. "[A] very readable, well illustrated and sometimes even racy, recounting of Brookhaven's history, politics and personalities."—Denys Wilkinson, Physics World