Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists is a book by Sharon Traweek on cultural anthropology and the sociology of science among people in the field of particle physics.

In contrast to a view of science as a wholly rational pursuit, laboratory studies like Traweek's detail a process of constructing knowledge by situating it as products of local practices and cultural contingencies.

[8] Beamtimes and Lifetimes describes ways physicists create networks, the interpersonal connections through which preprints and informal communication are diffused, graduate students exchanged, and discussions about findings and goals are channeled.

[14] Traweek's description illustrates values held by high energy physicists, such as disregard for neatness as an indication of focusing on intellectual pursuits, or distaste for secret work as less prestigious by being more applied than basic research.

[17] Describing the transition of a student into a full-fledged member of the community, she points to a double-bind of unspoken expectations faced by a person holding a postdoc, a short-term research position after receiving a Ph.D. in the U.S.

American physicists "emphasize that science is not democratic: decisions about scientific purposes should not be made by majority rule within the community, nor should there be equal access to a lab's resources.

[19] Traweek's comparison of how high energy physics is conducted in KEK in Japan and SLAC in the US makes visible alternative values and social norms that might otherwise be taken for granted by studying one country.

The researchers and employees of KEK reside in a social engineered science city in rural Japan, whereas SLAC is located near the existing hub of scientific and technological communities.

[15][20] The stories about a life in physics told by Americans pivot on traits traditionally associated with men, such as independence in defining goals and fierce competition in a race for discoveries.