The Canadian Light Source, which began operation in Saskatoon in 2004, is the largest Canadian science project of the last fifty years. The multi-beam facility operates over five thousand hours per year for over one thousand Canadian and international users from a wide range of science, medical, and engineering disciplines. This book describes the decades of intense research from many scientists to justify this project; the remarkable and unprecedented collaboration and cooperation of governments, universities, and industries across Canada; and the resulting outstanding research covering many areas of the physical, biological, medical, and agricultural sciences.

With personal accounts and frank narration, this book describes the long history from 1934-2001 leading to the CLS, beginning in Saskatoon in the 1930s. The core of the book highlights the remarkable and unselfish collaboration and cooperation of a few hundred people from Canadian and international universities, governments, and industry, showcasing how the Canadian Light Source represents pure and applied research at its finest.