In the previous issue of The Scientist (Feb. 19, 1990), we devoted a sizable portion of editorial space to the international science community's golden opportunities and potential pitfalls stemming from the Soviet Union's dramatic policies of perestroika and glasnost.
In that issue, physicist Sidney Drell poignantly discussed his friend Andrei Sakharov, who - with his dedication to intellectual freedom and open communication among nations - must be regarded as a prime mover toward the great reforms we are now witnessing in the USSR and Eastern Europe.
Concerning the improvement of communication between East and West that Sakharov persistently encouraged, it is appropriate that we in the science community consider some informational and linguistic changes that could significantly elevate and enrich the level of dialogue among researchers the world over. These changes entail, simply speaking, the need for Soviet scientists and publishers to, at long last, open their doors to the ...
