Summary of AFOS Workshop, 1994

It is a great honor to be invited to sum up the proceedings of this, first AFOS workshop. I do not quite know how to do it. It is difficult enough to work within a wel-established framework, but I do not think there is an established framework for this. One of the most important philosophers of science of the century, Michael Polanyi, said that science is a system of workshops, since the master scientist, like the master artist, does not know what exactly makes his workshop what it is, as his knowledge is tacit, unspoken. Certainly there is tacit knowledge in every activity, but for my part it seems to me that the workshop mentality is the opposite of what Polanyi describes, as it is fluid, and as the leadership of the proceeding keeps changing so that junior members of a workshop can have their day and make a contribution to the goings on, as the agenda can alter as a result of the interaction of memebers, of the group dynamics. This, I think is the spirit of science, and it is described in a few works where some historical workshops are described. Let me mention two studies that reflect it, Robert Jungk, Brighter than a Thousand Suns, and Einstein and the Generation of Science by Lewis Feuer. The main point to stress here is that the group dynamics is of great significance, and whatever it is it must be in friendly spirits. I think I need not say more on this as to our workshop: the friendly spirits were evident, and the procedures were developed satisfactorily as we went along. Since the discussions centered around papers, let me say that some of the papers were unpanned, on which more soon, and that some of the members here contributed significantly even though the did not read papers. I refer especially to the senior members of the workshop. I know that senior people do not particularly like to b? referred to as seniors, so let me mention here Bertrand Russell’s terrific “How to Grow Old”, wher he says, seniors can stay young by staying involved in the problems of the young. In this sense we are all young here.