What Seemed Important in 1966?: Review of a major congress five decades ago provides insight into what microbiologists then rated as key issues. How much has changed?

Abstract

Half a century ago, I was in Moscow, in the then Soviet Union, attending an International Congress of Microbiology. Although the passing of time seems unbelievable, the interval provides an opportunity to reconsider key topics which the organizers chose to focus attention on, since they were then major concerns for the profession. Some of those topics now appear surprising, some have declined in importance, and others have become more so.