Abstract of the Keynote Talk :

Prof. Allan Bromley, Sterling Professor of the Sciences, Yale University

Physics and the 21^st Century

After more than half a century of remarkable discoveries, applications and new insights on the structure of the universe and our place in it, physics and physicists, world wide, are facing a crisis of confidence.  At a time when celebration would seem appropriate, instead a siege mentality is settling in.  But there are reasons for optimism.  Physics, at least, is becoming truly international:  beyond the discoveries within our field, it is spawning an accelerating flow of new technologies and new understanding in our sister sciences – all of which improve our quality of life and our understanding of, utilization of, and accommodation to nature.  As we prepare to enter the 21^st century, it is essential that physicists, both young and old, regain the breadth of vision and of interest that characterized the giants of our past.  There is great adventure ahead.