Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 division segment	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Business Segment Information
Number of operating segments									5
Number of divisions									5
Revenue:
Product and service revenue between reportable segments									$ (15.8)	$ (10.7)	$ (8.0)
Total revenue	475.1	418.4	401.2	357.0	416.1	310.2	300.9	277.7	1,651.7	1,304.9	1,114.5
Operating Income (Loss):
Total operating income	53.7	37.5	38.7	25.7	51.6	39.3	37.9	26.9	155.6	155.7	136.7
Assets:
Total assets	1,710.5				1,549.8				1,710.5	1,549.8
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									54.4	31.9	16.3
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization									52.9	36.1	29.7
Scientific Instruments
Revenue:
Total revenue									1,554.1	1,225.1	1,062.7
Operating Income (Loss):
Total operating income									162.8	160.5	141.7
Assets:
Total assets	1,675.0				1,515.8				1,675.0	1,515.8
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									45.1	26.6	14.1
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization									49.1	32.8	26.6
Energy and Supercon Technologies
Revenue:
Total revenue									113.4	90.5	59.8
Operating Income (Loss):
Total operating income									(4.1)	(2.6)	(6.3)
Assets:
Total assets	104.4				84.4				104.4	84.4
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									9.3	5.3	2.2
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization									3.8	3.3	3.1
Corporate, eliminations and other
Operating Income (Loss):
Total operating income									(3.1)	(2.2)	1.3
Assets:
Total assets	$ (68.9)				$ (50.4)				$ (68.9)	$ (50.4)