CERN in Geneva, the European laboratory for nuclear research, is not only the world’s foremost centre for probing the mysteries of the atom: it is also the fruit of one of Europe’s finest and boldest undertakings, born of the vision of two distinguished scientists, Edoardo Amaldi of Italy and Pierre Auger of France. Pooling minds and resources allowed scientists to build particle accelerators that no country could have managed alone, and with them to tackle the riddle of the origins of the universe by recreating its earliest moments. Italian physicists and engineers have played a leading part in that extraordinary adventure. An event and a book that tell their stories alongside the development of particle physics, to which they made outstanding contributions, culminating in Carlo Rubbia’s Nobel Prize. Distinguished directors-general such as Luciano Maiani and Fabiola Gianotti have since led the organisation, driving its growth and securing a bright future for it.