Abstract
On 24-25 November 2016, the Masaryk Institute and the Archives of the CAS organised a conference with international representation in Prague's Villa Lanna under the title "Does Science Transcend Borders? International Scientific Conferences, Conventions and Congresses in the 20th and 21st Century" (Science Overcomes Borders? International Scientific Conferences, Conventions and Congresses in the 20th and 21st Century). It focused on the phenomenon of large international scientific gatherings - symposia, congresses, conventions, meetings - especially with regard to the Czech and Central European context, or the relations between the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War.
The individual contributions focused on specific congresses, as well as on their importance in the development of certain disciplines, or for the career and scientific profile of certain personalities. The conference elevated a very important topic in the history of modern science, which had been insufficiently reflected on its own.1 Two years later, the organizers succeeded in preparing for publication an English-language volume with a similar title, but which is not a conference proceedings: it does not include all the papers and presents its own distinct arrangement.