A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication

Finding the first patent for a superconducting magnet

First superconducting magnet patent

First superconducting magnet patent

When we decided to feature the first patent for a superconducting magnet in this issue’s logbook, we had no idea how difficult it would be to find it. The earliest weak superconducting magnets weren’t patented, since no one saw any practical application for them. It was only as superconducting materials matured that companies began to seek patents for superconducting magnet configurations, in a competitive boom of invention in the early 1960s. Recognition of the first patent seems to have gotten lost in the scuffle.

Read the full story of the pursuit of superconducting magnets, which came to a head at a 1961 MIT conference.

popular on symmetry

Row of red and pink candles with pink background
06/14/16

The neutrino turns 60

Project Poltergeist led to the discovery of the ghostly particle. Sixty years later, scientists are confronted with more neutrino mysteries than ever before.

Illustration representing properties of light
06/29/21

What is a photon?

The fundamental particle of light is both ordinary and full of surprises.

Conceptual illustration of a pie with a lattice crust
07/25/24

Explain it in 60 Seconds: Lattice QCD

Lattice gauge theory, or lattice QCD, is a calculation method that helps scientists make predictions about the behavior of quarks at low energies.