Institutional and National Representation Speakers and Topics at Five Modern Trend Conferences

摘要

The first Modern Trends in Activation Analysis Conference at Texas A and M in 1961 listed 23 papers from 19 different North American institutions and 9 papers from 8 different overseas laboratories. Second, third, fourth and fifth conferences were held in 1965 (Texas A and M), 1968 (N.B.S. Washington, DC), 1972 (Saclay, France) and 1976 (Munich, Germany). In contrast to the first conference, at the 1976 Munich meeting 34 papers from 21 different North American laboratories were presented along with 142 papers from 85 different non-North American establishments. The 1981 conference is expected to be even larger. A scientometric study was made of speakers, their institutions and nationalities, included in these five conferences. The objective was to see what patterns of participation could be discerned. In addition program content was evaluated by categorizing papers and ascertaining which topics had declined, grown, or emerged as new trends as the conferences progressed. The results from these studies present an interesting picture of how activation analysis has evolved: some countries that were originally quite active seem to have dropped interest; others have rapidly risen to preeminence. This is especially true of institutions, some of which have even disappeared from the scene. Not too surprisingly some of the speakers at the 1961 conference have appeared on other Modern Trend programs, and a few will probably appear in 1981. Some general conclusions about activation analysis conferences in general and the Modern Trends Conference in particular can be drawn from these and other data. (ERA citation 06:027433)