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The ability to work together has to be in the blood of particle physicists. They learn very early on that it is impossible to advance on one's own and that constant exchange is necessary.

You know, you can have someone who's the very best at something, but if there's not that kind of chemistry, collaborating is not going to amount to anything.

Further, science is a collaborative effort.

The greatest progress is in the sciences that study the simplest systems. So take, say, physics - greatest progress there. But one of the reasons is that the physicists have an advantage that no other branch of sciences has. If something gets too complicated, they hand it to someone else.

In fact what I would like to see is thousands of computer scientists let loose to do whatever they want. That's what really advances the field.

We're rapidly entering a world where everything can be monitored and measured. But the big problem is going to be the ability of humans to use, analyze and make sense of the data.

The combined results of several people working together is often much more effective than could be that of an individual scientist working alone.

It might seem paradoxical that the biggest scientific instruments of all are needed in order to probe the very smallest things in nature. The micro-world is inherently 'fuzzy' - the sharper the detail we wish to study, the higher the energy that is required and the bigger the accelerator that is needed.

Most great advances have been a collaboration. That is the joy of science for me.

Experimental high energy physics research is a group effort. I have been very fortunate to have had outstanding students and colleagues who have made invaluable contributions to the research with which I have been associated.