A Beautiful Story

Abstract

In 1981, a time when our science administrators still believed that small is beautiful, I was sent to Cuba with a very simple mission: To establish contact with the solid state physicists at the University of Havana in order to identify affinities and prepare the ground for possible collaborations. I count this as one of the most fortunate events in my professional and human experience. It marked the beginning of a long lasting and very fruitful collaboration as well as of many brotherly friendships that have significantly contributed to the enrichment of my life as a human being.