1117 



Graduate Student and 



Postdoctoral International 



Exchanges of U.S. Scientists 



Philip W. Hemily 



INTRODUCTION 



The year is 1927. Picture a recent doctoral graduate arriving in Co- 

 penhagen, taking the tram to the Niels Bohr Institute, ringing the bell, 

 announcing "I am Isidor Rabi. I have come here to do research." He 

 was, of course, welcomed to join the bright, exciting group of young 

 scientists working in close collaboration in this world-famous interna- 

 tional setting. This was a major benchmark in his emerging illustrious 

 career as a teacher and researcher at the frontiers of physics and as a 

 public servant at the national and international levels— adviser to 

 presidents, governmental agencies, and the Congress, promoter and 

 spirit behind the NATO science program, the Atoms for Peace pro- 

 gram, the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency 

 (IAEA), and so many other activities of benefit to this nation and the 

 world scientific community. 



During the first three decades of this century, it was pretty much 

 taken for granted that bright promising American scientists like young 

 Rabi would seek out and participate in Western European research ac- 

 tivities through doctoral and postdoctoral training. This was the time 

 when the Solvay conferences and other colloquia in a broad range of 

 fields were evolving; when the center of the scientific universe was a 

 select group of universities and research institutes in Western Europe; 

 when this network was being extended to a few promising centers in 

 North America. It was a time of ferment, excitement, and evolution 



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