Introduction Why Small Science

Is it possible today for a small research team to do excellent work with modest means?It does not seem so.Institutions such as CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the transnational laboratory of high-energy physics based in Geneva, loom large in the landscape of contemporary science.CERN represents a large-scale mode of research that mobilises vast resources and adopts the industrial division of labour.Along with observatories like LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), telescopes like the James Webb (NASA), or supercomputing projects like Destination Earth, aimed at producing a digital twin of the Earth (EC-ESA-Eumetsat-ECMWF), organizations like CERN demand strong political will and sustained media support. 1 In comparison, the