ABSTRACT
On October 30, 1911, the Belgian industrial tycoon Ernest Solvay opened the first Solvay scientific council in a small room of the Me´tropole, the most beautiful hotel in Brussels. It was “a sort of private conference” to which Ernest Solvay had convened the most prestigious scientists of the moment to discuss, in a small group, the revolution which had been shaking the foundations of science. Participation in this mini-conference was limited to around 20 scientists, who had all received a personal invitation from Solvay. Around half of them would later be awarded (or already had been awarded) a Nobel prize.
