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Physics in Poland and Russia

DEC 01, 1957
Do the spectacular achievements of Soviet technology reflect the true state of progress in basic science behind the Iron Curtain? The author, a Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist, thinks they do not.
Donald J. Hughes

This past summer I spent a very busy month in a manner I hardly would have predicted a few years ago—visiting Polish and Soviet scientists, accompanied by my wife, as a guest of their governments. The trip was unusual in that I was not attending a conference, as has been true for most visits of US physicists, but was lecturing and consulting on an individual basis. The resulting informality meant that I was able to learn about a wide variety of physics research and to talk at length to many individuals. As the Russian visit was preceded by two weeks in Poland, I had a chance to learn much about the Soviet work from within, so to speak. Actually, the freedom of discussion in Poland helped to prepare me, in a valuable way, for uncovering details of developments after I reached Russia.

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Donald J. Hughes, Brookhaven National Laboratory.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 10, Number 12

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