50 Years ago

At the meeting of the Society for Visiting Scientists on June 3, great interest was expressed in the potentialities of international research centres. It was admitted from the outset that there is no intrinsic merit in international research as such, since the important thing in any scientific work is the result, not how or where the work is carried out. The justification for any proposed international effort must therefore be carefully examined ... The experience of running CERN presented some interesting lessons ... CERN had been formed at a time when there was a sense of togetherness among most of the nations of Western Europe, a feeling which sought for some practical expression. It was important that any concrete form which could be given to it should not be controversial, should not be military, should not be a political disaster if it failed and that success if achieved should be clearly recognizable. If these factors were present, the way was open for the scientists, who, after all, led the world in international co-operation, to exert pressure on their political colleagues.

From Nature 1 August 1964

100 Years ago

Many instances are on record of so-called “wolf-children,” said to have been found in the jungles of India. A strange story is now reported from Naini Tal, the summer capital of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, of a female child about nine years old found in this neighbourhood, and unable to eat anything except grass and chapatis or native griddle cakes. She has a great mat of head hair and a thick growth on the sides of her face and spine. She bears marks of vaccination and is clearly a child who had, years ago, been abandoned or strayed into the jungle.

From Nature 30 July 1914