by alpha0

   Those of you who have attended the old Solvay conferences
   will recall that on these occasions one sat along long
   tables that were arranged as if one was going to pray.
   Like a Quaker gathering, there was no fixed agenda; the
   expectation -- seldom belied -- was that someone would
   be moved to start the discussion off spontaneously.  At
   the 1961 Solvay Conference I was sitting next to Dirac,
   waiting for the session to start. Feynman came and sat
   down opposite. 

   Feynman extended his hand and said, "I'm Feynman." Dirac 
   extended his hand and said, "I'm Dirac." (Apparently, 
   this was the first time they had formally introduced 
   themselves, at least during that conference.) 

   There was silence, which from Feynman was rather remark-
   able. Then Feynman, like a schoolboy in the presence of
   a master, said to Dirac: "It must have felt good to have
   invented that equation" and Dirac replied, "But that was
   a long time ago." There was silence again.  To break this,
   Dirac, of all people, asked Feynman: "What are you working
   on yourself?" and Feynman answered "Meson theories." Dirac
   said, "Are you trying to invent a similar equation?" Feynman
   said, "That would be very difficult." And Dirac said in an
   anxious voice, "But one must try." At that point the conver-
   sation finished because the meeting had started.

   - from 'Unification of Fundamental Forces', by Abdul Salam