DAN BROWN’s novel Angels and Demons begins with the big bold word “FACT”. It continues: “The world’s largest scientific research facility – Switzerland’s Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) – recently succeeded in producing the first particles of antimatter.” That much is true: CERN really does exist. It is the European laboratory for particle physics near Geneva, and it really does make antimatter. The story is about a plot to destroy the Vatican using antimatter stolen from CERN. And much of what follows is pure fiction.
That CERN exists at all probably came as news to a lot of…
