CERN is the French acronym for "Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire” — otherwise known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The instruments depicted in these photographs are of "purpose-built particle accelerators and detectors, located at the CERN laboratory just outside Geneva, Switzerland. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before the beams are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions." (CERN)