This anthology is about new big science, approached through perspectives from law, sustainability studies, sociology of science and technology, history, human geography and information studies. In focus are the two large experimental facilities being built in Lund: the European Spallation Source (ESS) and MAX IV. Put centre stage are the communities that launch, build, use, host, and benefit from these science facilities.

New big science facilities are large in their physical footprints, their costs, and their ambitions. Expectations abound and are in constant production. This anthology captures the opportunity to study these complex science facilities in the making – at the juncture where expectations meet reality – asking questions about what possibilities, constraints, and risks these projects entail.

This anthology is the outcome of an interdisciplinary research theme at the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University. The editors Josephine V. Rekers and Kerstin Sandell are both social scientists, affiliated with the Department of Human Geography and the Department of Gender Studies respectively.