CERN Courier, the international magazine on high energy physics published for CERN by IOP Publishing,

 is today commemorating its 50th anniversary with the publication of a special issue celebrating the past 50 years.

 The special issue is available to view online now.

Highlights in the issue include:

• CERN Courier's first editor Roger Anthoine looks back at how the publication first started
• A reproduction of the original edition in its entirety
• A selection of highlights from the past 50 years including dramatic discoveries and breakthroughs, such as the start-up and inauguration of the Large Hadron Collider

Rolf Heuer, CERN's director general, writes in the issue that CERN Courier's aim now, as with the first issue, is to "maintain the ideal of European co-operation and the team spirit which are essential to the achievement of our final aim: scientific research on an international scale".

The magazine began life as an 8-page internal newsletter for CERN, with a print run of just 1000, but has now grown to reach 25000 readers around the world. It celebrated the launch of the LHC, CERN's new flagship research facility, with a 100-page special issue in October 2008.

IOP Publishing is proud to have worked with CERN to publish CERN Courier since 1998. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics, providing publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. The Institute of Physics is a not-for-profit society. Any surplus from IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of the Institute.