WEST BERLIN—East Berlin’s Humboldt University and West Berlin’s Technical University are less than three miles apart. But the Wall makes scientific communication almost impossible.
What applies to the two Berlins is equally true for the two (Germanys. “Just inviting people to give a talk at a seminar simply did not work out,” said Dietrich Dörner a professor of psychology who studies machine intelligence. His attempt last summer to invite a colleague failed when the East German government refused to al low him to cross the border.
But that situation may be improving, thanks to a treaty on cooperation in science and technology signed in September during the visit to Bonn of East German General Secretary Erich Honecker (see THE SCIENTIST, September 21, p. 8). The agreement provides for joint scientific symposia and exhibitions, scientific exchanges “for the purpose of information, study, teaching and research,” joint research projects, and the sharing ...
