Nuggets to Neutrinos: The Homestake Story

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874 by members of the Custer Expedition sparked a gold rush that helped precipitate the Great Sioux War of 1876–77. The war culminated with the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the expropriation of the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Reservation. The famous Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, was located in April 1876 during the infancy of the gold rush. George Hearst and other California capitalists purchased the mine in 1877. Throughout its life, the mine produced 40 million ounces of gold before being closed in 2001. Today, the 8,000-foot-deep underground mine is being transformed into a science and engineering laboratory where scientists will conduct research on dark matter, astrophysics, double beta decay, and solar neutrinos. Hence, the title of the book, Nuggets to Neutrinos: The Homestake Story.