VI FOREWORD 



long, offers fully furnished flats from 1 to 6 rooms with kitchen to about 

 120 foreign research workers with families. At the present time people 

 from 30 countries are living in the Helicon. 



A third building is now being planned for a restaurant, lecture rooms 

 and facihties for scientific and social colloquia of foreign guests and 

 Swedish scientists. Such activities were started in January 1962 im- 

 mediately after H.M. the King had graciously inaugurated the Wenner- 

 Gren Center. Our guests meet twice a month for scientific or cultural 

 lectures, and sometimes for concerts or other forms of entertainment. 

 The large number of children in the Helicon play their role as catalysts 

 of acquaintance and friendship between the families. 



The two aims of the Foundation would at first sight seem to be rather 

 disparate. But this is not the case : in fact they are complementary. 

 International symposia on the highest level for research workers in a narrow 

 field serve specialization, which in view of the rapidly growing amount of 

 knowledge in all fields of science is nowadays inevitable as one of the 

 absolute prerequisites for progress. Specialization, however, has an 

 inherent danger, when driven too far, of isolating scientists to the point 

 where they cannot understand the language of research workers even in 

 closely related fields. The second aim of the Foundation, to bring 

 scientists in all fields and from many countries together under the same 

 roof is likely to counteract these undesirable eff'ects of specialization, to 

 broaden their knowledge and outlook on science, to initiate and strengthen 

 international friendship. 



With deep satisfaction we now witness our first international symposium, 

 on " Olfaction and Taste ", taking place in the Wenner-Gren Center 

 Foundation. We sincerely hope it is going to be successful in stimulating 

 further research in a field so closely connected with some of the mental 

 sources of human happiness. We also hope it will be followed by many 

 others in days to come. 



Hugo Theorell, N.P. 

 President of the Board of 

 Wenner-Gren Center Foundation 



