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Those of you who have attended the old Solvay conferences
will recall that on these occasions one sat along long
tables that were arranged as if one was going to pray.
Like a Quaker gathering, there was no fixed agenda; the
expectation -- seldom belied -- was that someone would
be moved to start the discussion off spontaneously. At
the 1961 Solvay Conference I was sitting next to Dirac,
waiting for the session to start. Feynman came and sat
down opposite.
Feynman extended his hand and said, "I'm Feynman." Dirac
extended his hand and said, "I'm Dirac." (Apparently,
this was the first time they had formally introduced
themselves, at least during that conference.)
There was silence, which from Feynman was rather remark-
able. Then Feynman, like a schoolboy in the presence of
a master, said to Dirac: "It must have felt good to have
invented that equation" and Dirac replied, "But that was
a long time ago." There was silence again. To break this,
Dirac, of all people, asked Feynman: "What are you working
on yourself?" and Feynman answered "Meson theories." Dirac
said, "Are you trying to invent a similar equation?" Feynman
said, "That would be very difficult." And Dirac said in an
anxious voice, "But one must try." At that point the conver-
sation finished because the meeting had started.
- from 'Unification of Fundamental Forces', by Abdul SalamReminds me of a story capturing the directness of communication between men in Finland.
The story goes... Two old Finish men, not having seen each other in more than ten years, happen upon each other at a bar. They immediately sit down for drinks. They sit in silence, the first drink comes, they both drink. The second drink comes, they both drink. The third drink comes, one of the Finns raises his glass and says "cheers". The other Finn then asks in a perturbed tone, "Are you gonna talk all night, or are we going to drink?" One must try, I guess.