The APL2002 conference report

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 8

I am surprised by the last paragraph of your comments in Vector. Since I am personally mentioned there by my Christian name, I think I have the right to answer. I assure you that I’m definitely NOT trying to help my university come out of the Franco closet. It doesn’t need it. You seem to be a little outdated. Franco died 27 years ago. I think it’s about time you stop reminding us of certain things. I doubt you would have dared to say something similar about a German University in 1972, 27 years after Hitler’s death.

I can also assure you that I have never hoped the English- speaking world to go away, either in the APL field or otherwise. I have the greatest respect for the works of that “world” in science, the arts, and other fields. If you need proof, for my dictionary of “1000 great scientists,” which I published in 1996 (see my web page), I chose 474 born or naturalized in English speaking countries. Before publishing text that may offend the feelings of persons or people, I would advise you to start by forgetting prejudices and stereotypes and really getting to know what you are trying to criticise. You could have said similar things in a very different way.

Regards, Manuel Alfonseca