High‐energy physics: The 1964 conference at Dubna

The twelfth International Conference on High‐Energy Physics was held at Dubna in the USSR from August 5 through August 12, 1964. This chosen site is approximately seventy miles north of Moscow on the banks of the Volga River. The city of Dubna (with a population of ten to twenty thousand, depending upon whom you talk to) is the home of the 10‐BeV Synchrophasitron, a 700‐MeV synchrocyclotron, and a low‐energy, 3‐meter, heavy‐ion cyclotron. During the weekend of the conference, there was a conducted tour of the laboratory in which the above machines as well as experimental apparatus were viewed. For the less technically inclined, trips to Moscow were available via bus or train (approximately three hours each way). Among the many sites to be seen were the Kremlin, the GUM Department Store, the Pushkin Art Gallery, Moscow University, and the famous Moscow subway system. However, the most enjoyable pastime was to roam the streets of Moscow, camera in hand, seeing the people and thereby gaining a feeling for the daily life in the city. Over‐all, one is impressed by the enormous number of apartment buildings under construction, the efficiency and ornateness of the subways, and the drive and energy of the people. The weather during the conference was cool. Furthermore, its proximity to the Volga, which allowed for a morning or afternoon swim, indeed recommends this area for a conference during the month of August. Most of the participants (numbering in the hundreds, with the Chinese being conspicuously absent) were housed in the Hotel Dubna, which also contained the dining facilities. One must say that our hosts, under the chairmanship of Professor D. I. Blokhintsev, extended themselves in providing for our comfort, our hunger pangs (it took less than one hour per meal), and our entertainment, which involved a memorable boat trip to Kalinin as well as a variety concert of Moscow artists.

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