35 years Liquid Metals conferences: what do we and what do we not yet understand about liquid metals?

Abstract Looking back on the 35 years that have passed between the first LM-conference in Brookhaven and LAM 11 in Yokohama it is clear that the field of liquid metals has gained in certainty, in depth and in width. It is impossible to try to summarize within the scope of a lecture all of the important developments that had happened in between, and it is even more futile to try to define emerging areas of opportunities. But it may be interesting to compare the topics of the 1966-conference in Brookhaven with their counterparts of the 2001-conference in Yokohama, and to see briefly the effects of 35 years of active development on the field.