From a historical perspective, the 1970s appears to be the Centre's 'quiet' decade. But it was also a time when much of the fundamental work needed to ensure the long-term vitality of ICTP's scientific and administrative activities was carried out.

That 1970s Centre

The 1970s began with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) joining the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Centre's original UN sponsor, as a full partner in the management of ICTP. The decade ended with the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Abdus Salam for his contributions to the theoretical unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces.
The first event signalled that the Centre's research and training activities would move beyond their initial focus on high energy, nuclear and plasma physics (a reflection of IAEA's mandate) to encompass broader areas of study that fell within UNESCO's responsibilities to promote the basic sciences.
UNESCO's anticipated arrival had spurred the creation of an ad hoc committee in 1969. The committee, led by the Dutch physicist Hendrik B.G. Casimir, research director of Philips Research Laboratories in the Netherlands, not only commended ICTP for five years of excellent work but suggested that ICTP expand its activities into other physics-related areas.
As a result, the 1970s witnessed the launching of courses in computing as a language of physics (1971); applied mathematics (1972); atomic, molecular and laser physics (1973); the physics of ocean and atmosphere (1975); science teaching (1976); non-conventional energies (1977); and mathematical economics (1978).

International Symposium on the Development of the Physicist's Conception of Nature in the Twentieth Century, dedicated to P.A.M. Dirac on the occasion of his 70th birthday, 18-25 September 1972

In 1977, another ad hoc committee, led by Léon Van Hove, research director general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), in Geneva, Switzerland, urged that biophysics and earth sciences be added to the Centre's curriculum and that computing facilities be made readily available. Both recommendations would turn into reality by the early 1980s.
The second event, which took place in Sweden in December 1979, marked a dramatic turning point in the history of the Centre. The acclaim that accompanied the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Salam in 1979 made both him and the institution that he founded world famous. That notoriety, in turn, set the stage for a period of feverish expansion in the 1980s.
While these momentous events provide convenient 'bookends' for the 1970s, the decade itself is often viewed as a time of consolidation sandwiched between the dramatic formation of ICTP in the 1960s and its unprecedented growth in the 1980s.
I remember to this day the remark that Abdus Salam made soon after we had moved from the Centre's original location in Piazza Oberdan, in downtown Trieste, to the newly constructed Main Building on Miramare campus facing the Adriatic Sea.
"Now," he said in a booming voice laced with an English accent, "we've got to fill this bloody place."
That was the challenge Abdus Salam set for himself as he peered down the empty corridors of the Main Building in the early 1970s. For him and all those involved in the Centre, it was truly intimidating to think that ICTP had quadrupled in size--physical size, that is--less than a decade after its birth.

Summer College on Global Analysis and its Applications, 4 July - 25 August 1972

In many ways, Abdus Salam's plaintive call--driven by equal doses of excitement and anxiety--captured the essence of the decade.
In effect, that was what the 1970s were about: filling space both physically and, more importantly, with an active scientific agenda worthy of ICTP's lofty goals.
The number of scientists visiting the Centre throughout the 1970s was small, averaging about 1000 each year. Accordingly, the number of permanent staff and scientists was extremely small but it was complemented by strong interaction with the physicists at Trieste University who were effectively acting as the scientific staff of the Centre. In addition, many scientists working for the Centre were employed as professors elsewhere and usually came to Trieste for several weeks or months each year on a temporary basis.
During the decade, the Centre served as a focal point for such research topics as the standard model, and the interaction of particles and nuclei.
It is also important to note that the pace of the Centre's activities was far different than it is today.
ICTP research and training activities tended to be fewer in number and longer in length. Take, for example, the Workshop on Solid State Physics in 1972. It began on 15 April and ended on 31 August, attracting 64 scientists from 21 countries. Or, the Autumn Course on the Applications of Analysis to Mechanics in 1976, which began on 22 September and continued until 3 December. It had 80 participants from 30 countries. In fact, the scientific calendar in 1972 consisted of just 5 activities; the calendar in 1976, 14.

Topical Meeting on Gravitation and Field Theory, 13-16 July 1971

All of this meant that for large stretches of time, especially in winter, the Centre was a quiet--indeed an empty--place which, in Salam's words, needed to be "filled up."
Yet the limited number of activities held at the Centre each year did not mean that ICTP was a cold and unfriendly place. The corridors may have at times been empty but the place was imbued with a warm inviting atmosphere that was to become a hallmark of the institution and one of its most attractive characteristics. ICTP, thanks largely to the dedication of its staff, quickly evolved into a 'people friendly' scientific institution.
In fact, the small number of activities and the intense interaction that took place at the workshops and courses nurtured a strong sense of belonging for those who were involved. Add to all this the prevailing belief that we were building a unique and valuable institution, as well as Abdus Salam's unwavering enthusiastic commitment to the cause, and it is not difficult to see why many of us felt we were a family. Scientists often spoke of the Centre as their 'second home.' I think it is fair to say that many staff felt the same way.
And because ICTP had no guesthouses--the Galileo Guesthouse did not open its doors until 1982 and the Adriatico Guesthouse until 1985--all of our lecturers and participants had to be housed in apartments and rooms in downtown Trieste. This meant that visitors to the Centre enjoyed continuous interaction with the citizens of Trieste in ways that enabled our guests to learn firsthand about the city and for Triestini to learn, often in a personal way, about the unique contributions that the Centre was making to the life of their city. Science was our main business, but cross-cultural dialogue was an added benefit not just in the Centre itself but in the community beyond.

Galileo Guesthouse cornerstone laying ceremony, 28 June 1977

The Italian government's contributions to the Centre averaged about US$350,000 a year throughout the 1970s. To supplement this funding, the Centre successfully sought and acquired programmatic funding from a variety of external sources. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for example, provided funds from 1971 to 1978 for activities in solid state physics and mathematics, and the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) partially funded the Associateship Programme from 1969 as did the Ford Foundation from 1967 to 1973.
These external sources of funding enabled the Centre to both deepen and broaden the range of its activities at a time when observers were watching closely to see if the nascent institution would be able to fulfill its promise. The financial security that ICTP enjoys today, marked by the ongoing generosity of the Italian government, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the Centre's budget, is due in no small measure to ICTP's ability to develop a strong and enduring roster of research and training activities during the 1970s and to devise effective mechanisms for ensuring that scientists were well cared for during their stay in Trieste.
That's the kind of 'quiet' stuff that made the 1970s so critical to ICTP's long-term success. In retrospect, the 1970s weren't that quiet at all.

Luciano Bertocchi
ICTP's Deputy Director, 1983-1997
Acting Director, 1994-1995

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