1 INTRODUCTION M.Shifman William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
[email protected] When destination becomes destiny... — 1 — Five decades — from the 1920s till 1970s — were the golden age of physics. Never before have developments in physics played such an important role in the history of civilization, and they probably never will again. This was an exhilarating time for physicists. The same five decades also witnessed terrible atrocities, cruelty and degradation of humanity on an unprecedented scale. The rise of dictatorships (e.g., in Europe, the German national socialism and the communist Soviet Union) brought misery to millions. El sueño de la razón produce monstruos... In 2012, when I was working on the book Under the Spell of Lan- dau, [1] I thought this would be my last book on the history of the- oretical physics and the fate of physicists under totalitarian regimes (in the USSR in an extreme form as mass terror in the 1930s and 40s, and in a milder but still onerous and humiliating form in the Brezhnev era). I thought that modern Russia was finally rid of its dictatorial past and on the way to civility. Unfortunately, my hopes remain fragile: recent events in this part of the world show that the past holds its grip. We are currently witnessing recurrent (and even dangerously growing) symptoms of authoritarian rule: with politi- cal opponents of the supreme leader forced in exile or intimidated, with virtually no deterrence from legislators or independent media, the nation’s future depends on decisions made singlehandedly.