the situation today is no less critical than it was when Einstein wrote it. The instigators of it were an Italian, Fermi; two Hungarians, Szilard and von Wiegner; and Einstein himself was German. They had formed a sort of action committee. Of course it is easier to achieve unanimity in physics than in the social sciences. I wonder nevertheless whether it is Utopian to believe that this conference might result in the formation of such a committee of action with an agreed programme, determined on a direct approach to the powers that be ⦠What the Einstein letter achieved might be called a miracle â a miracle in black magic. I wonder whether a miracle in white magic of a similar magnitude is beyond the reach of science⦠I realize that I shall be accused of black pessimism and rosy optimism at the same time. Let us start the discussion â¦â
There was a long silence. Then von Halder raised a hand and started talking at the same time. âYessir,â he puffed. âVery nice. But in your ten points you have forgotten to mention the most important symptoms of sickness of this contemporary society of ours, which are aggressivity, Sir, and violence,
Mein Herr,
and pornography, Sir, and the drug mania of the youngsters, and all these tripsters and popouts ⦠So. Therefore we must first of allâ¦â
But he was prevented from explaining what to do first of all by the noisy opening of the glass-panelled French window to the terrace through which the short, dynamic figure of Professor Bruno Kaletski burst in, with a suitcase in one hand and a bulging briefcase clutched under the armpit on the other side, leaving only a few fingers free to cope with the door. Tony jumped up to come to his aid, but Kaletski held him at bay by shouting: âI can manage. I can manage,â holding the door open with his knee while he ferried the suitcase through it. âMr Chairman,â he continued in the same breath, putting the suitcase down on the floor and approaching with short, quick steps one of the empty chairs at thetable, âI must apologize, but you know how it is when they suddenly want you for an emergency meeting in Washington â they are like babies crying for their nanny, and at the same time they act as if they owned you, so I apologize again, and as I see that you have already started, which you were quite right to do, I shall not expect you, Mr Chairman, to waste time with formal greetings, but I trust you will put me in the picture with a brief résumé of the
conversazione
that I missed.â While talking, his busy hands were extracting wads of papers from the briefcase and, apparently all of their own accord, arranging them in neat piles on the table. This done, the left extracted a cigarette case from a pocket, while the right shook hands with his neighbours â smiling Dr Valenti and somnolent Sir Evelyn Blood. Then both hands co-operated in the ritual lighting of the cigarette, a kind of manual ballet, ending in a flourish which extinguished the match in mid-air.
âWe are all very glad,â Nikolai said drily, âthat you were able to make it at all. As for a résumé, my brief opening was in itself a résumé, and I am sure nobody wants to hear it a second time. You will find an abstract of it in your file.â
â
A vos ordres.
Anything you say,â Bruno remarked in a voice intended to convey what a good-natured, non-pompous person he was, while his hands, moving like a stage-magicianâs, were getting the abstract out of the dossier. âPlease proceed. I can read and listen at the same time.â
âOtto was in the process of making a point,â Nikolai said.
But von Halder waved an angry hand, as if chasing a fly away. âI have forgotten my point because of the interruption. Perhaps later.â
He was incensed, not by the interruption â once launched, nothing could put him off his stride â but because he
There was a long silence. Then von Halder raised a hand and started talking at the same time. âYessir,â he puffed. âVery nice. But in your ten points you have forgotten to mention the most important symptoms of sickness of this contemporary society of ours, which are aggressivity, Sir, and violence,
Mein Herr,
and pornography, Sir, and the drug mania of the youngsters, and all these tripsters and popouts ⦠So. Therefore we must first of allâ¦â
But he was prevented from explaining what to do first of all by the noisy opening of the glass-panelled French window to the terrace through which the short, dynamic figure of Professor Bruno Kaletski burst in, with a suitcase in one hand and a bulging briefcase clutched under the armpit on the other side, leaving only a few fingers free to cope with the door. Tony jumped up to come to his aid, but Kaletski held him at bay by shouting: âI can manage. I can manage,â holding the door open with his knee while he ferried the suitcase through it. âMr Chairman,â he continued in the same breath, putting the suitcase down on the floor and approaching with short, quick steps one of the empty chairs at thetable, âI must apologize, but you know how it is when they suddenly want you for an emergency meeting in Washington â they are like babies crying for their nanny, and at the same time they act as if they owned you, so I apologize again, and as I see that you have already started, which you were quite right to do, I shall not expect you, Mr Chairman, to waste time with formal greetings, but I trust you will put me in the picture with a brief résumé of the
conversazione
that I missed.â While talking, his busy hands were extracting wads of papers from the briefcase and, apparently all of their own accord, arranging them in neat piles on the table. This done, the left extracted a cigarette case from a pocket, while the right shook hands with his neighbours â smiling Dr Valenti and somnolent Sir Evelyn Blood. Then both hands co-operated in the ritual lighting of the cigarette, a kind of manual ballet, ending in a flourish which extinguished the match in mid-air.
âWe are all very glad,â Nikolai said drily, âthat you were able to make it at all. As for a résumé, my brief opening was in itself a résumé, and I am sure nobody wants to hear it a second time. You will find an abstract of it in your file.â
â
A vos ordres.
Anything you say,â Bruno remarked in a voice intended to convey what a good-natured, non-pompous person he was, while his hands, moving like a stage-magicianâs, were getting the abstract out of the dossier. âPlease proceed. I can read and listen at the same time.â
âOtto was in the process of making a point,â Nikolai said.
But von Halder waved an angry hand, as if chasing a fly away. âI have forgotten my point because of the interruption. Perhaps later.â
He was incensed, not by the interruption â once launched, nothing could put him off his stride â but because he
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