Physics in Poland and Russia

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.