During my recent stay in Moscow I was told several different variations on the following anecdote. Japanese experts were invited to assess the state of Soviet electronics and computer technology, and to tell their hosts how long it would take for the Soviet Union to catch up to Japan. “We thought you were behind us 15 or 20 years,” the Japanese experts responded, “But now we have come to the conclusion that it is forever.” A professor in Moscow told me that in the 194

If someone had told me last December that I would meet Andrel Sakharov six months later in Moscow, I—a notorious optimist—would have considered that person a fool. But in June, after unsuccessfully trying to call Sakharov shortly after my arrival in Moscow en route to a conference in Novosibirsk, I asked a friend to drive me to 48B Chkalov Street at around 9 p.m. I rang at the shabby door, which was opened by Yelena Bonner, Sakharov’s wife. She is used to late visitors, to

STOCKHOLM—The return of 65-year-old academician Andrei Sakharov has given rise to many questions. One important question for scientists is: To what extent will the former prodigy and the youngest person to be elected a full member of the prestigious Soviet' Academy of Sciences resume his scientific activities, after seven years of isolation in Gorky? Speculation about how he might apply his scientific energies ranges over a large area. His insights might be very useful to those who have st