''Physics is the Most Important'' — Leonard Sosnowski

Abstract

I am probably one of the few who remember the first Jaszowiec Conferences that took place in the Teacher's House. Memories of those old times are very blurred. However, I remember this period as full of enthusiasm and commitment to the study of new phenomena in the so-called ''narrow energy gap'' semiconductors. I also remember Professor Leonard Sosnowski, who was the highest authority for us, and who instilled in us the belief that ''Physics is the Most Important'' and should primarily regulate relations in our community. During these 50 years, since Professors Witold Giriat, Wiesław Wardzyński, and Józef Żmija took their first steps in the organization of ''Jaszowiec'', a local Polish meeting turned into a prestigious international conference, building the coherence of the entire Polish semiconductor physics community. When I consider what enabled the systematic development and great success of ''Jaszowiec'', what I see first is Sosnowski's principle that Physics is our common good which we should preserve. The key role of this principle is in line with the hundred-year tradition of ''Hoża 69'', born in II Rzeczpospolita. Despite turbulent times, this tradition has survived and is still alive among us.