Pure and Applied Nuclear Physics in East and West

Abstract

THE second conference on the “peaceful atom,” held between September 1 and 13, 1958, was not accompanied by the feverish anticipation of a glimpse into an unknown world to the same extent as was the First Geneva Conference in 1955. For one thing, the public at large had become accustomed to the miracle of nuclear energy and its devices. Moreover, those of us who had looked forward to seeing a “live Russian scientist” before the first conference had become accustomed to the experience from nrumerous occasions in the intervening period. On the whole, the Second Geneva Conference was preceded by somewhat methodical and elaborate preparations involving the scientists and engineers of all countries, in much the same way as are meetings in other fields. Only the presentation of schemes for controlled fusion offered some of the glamor associated with the first conference.