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big science

n. scientific research that requires massive capital investment but is expected to yield very significant results

Wikipedia
Big Science

Big science is a term used by scientists and historians of science to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations during and after World War II, as scientific progress increasingly came to rely on large-scale projects usually funded by national governments or groups of governments. Individual or small group efforts, or Small Science, is still relevant today as theoretical results by individual authors may have a significant impact, but very often the empirical verification requires experiments using constructions, such as the Large Hadron Collider, costing between $5 and $10 billion.

Big Science (Laurie Anderson album)

Big Science is the 1982 debut album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson and the first of a 7-album deal she signed with Warner Bros. Records. It is best known for the 8-minute epic " O Superman", which reached #2 in the UK. The album is minimalist and monochrome in sound, and like a great deal of Anderson's work is based largely on spoken word. It is a selection of highlights from her eight-hour production, United States Live, which was itself released as a 5-LP box set and book in 1984. United States Live was originally a performance piece, in which music was only one element. After Big Science music played a larger role in Anderson's work.

Although considered her debut album, Anderson had previously recorded one side of a 2-LP set titled You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With, a collaboration released on Giorno Poetry Systems with William S. Burroughs and John Giorno. She had also contributed two pieces to a 1977 compilation of electronic music.

A newly remastered version of the album was released on 18 June 2007 by Nonesuch/ Elektra Records with new liner notes, and, in the data portion of the CD, the bonus track "Walk the Dog" ( B-Side of the original " O Superman" single) and the "O Superman" video.

The album has been sampled in a number of hip hop songs:

  • "From the Air" was sampled by Mr. Lif in the song "Home of the Brave" on his Emergency Rations EP. The song deals with political repercussions of September 11, 2001, playing off the original song's description of a plane crash.
  • "Raspberry Fields" by Cannibal Ox contains a sample from "Sweaters".
  • "This about the City" by cLOUDDEAD contains a sample from the song "Big Science".
  • Brief snippets of "O Superman" were used by Cut Chemist in the introduction to his song "Spat".

Slant Magazine listed the album at #44 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

Big Science (BWO album)

Big Science is BWO's fourth studio album and was released on April 1, 2009. It contains 12 new songs and 2 remixes. The first single of this album is "You're Not Alone", which was released as a ballad and as a disco version (like they did with Open Door). The ballad version also served as BWO's entry in the 2009 Melodifestivalen.

The album was released on October 5, 2009 in the UK. . For unknown reasons, the album doesn't include the UK remixed version of " Right Here Right Now" featuring Velvet.