5-6 June "The fiendlike skill we display in the invention of all manner of death-dealing engines, the vindictiveness with which we carry on wars, and the misery and desolation that follow in their train, are enough in themselves to distinguish the white civilized man as the most ferocious animal on the face of the earth". A century and a half after Herman Melville wrote these words in Typee, further instruments of doom are being added to the white civilized man’s burden, many of which are commonly related to scientific and technological breakthroughs. Misfortune tellers are having a field day predicting the worst-ever millennium and exploiting the threats posed by the swift change we now experience. There are, however, rational ways of apprehending the future and its dangers, of mapping the patterns elicited from past history and today’s trends, as well as the emergence of new opportunities. Rationality alone is not enough to allay fin de millénaire gloom, but it helps. The ten Nobel Laureates and the international experts invited in Milan are asked to act as "mankind’s civil servants" - as Husserl, who was one of them, said - and to reflect upon what lies ahead.

The programme 4 December 5 December 6 December Chairperson SALVATORE CARRUBBA City Councillor for Cultural Affairs, City of Milan 14,30 Welcoming addresses GABRIELE ALBERTINI Mayor of Milan BRUNO ERMOLLI Board, Milan Chamber of Commerce MARIO TALAMONA Vice President, Cariplo 15,00 Opening remarks UMBERTO COLOMBO Italian National Council for the Economy and Labour MARCO VITALE President, Italian Association of Merchant Banks 16,00 From forecasting models to choices LAWRENCE R. KLEIN Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1980 Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Use of Econometric Models in an Uncertain Environment DOUGLASS C. NORTH Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1993 Professor of Economics, Washington University, St. Louis Beliefs, Institutions and the Process of Economic Change 4 December 5 December 6 December Chairperson RENATO UGO President, Italian Association for Industrial Research 9,30 Past lessons for the future RITA LEVI MONTALCINI Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1986 President, Levi Montalcini Foundation The Two X Chromosomes on the Eve of the Third Millennium SHELDON LEE GLASHOW Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1979 Professor of Physics and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.) Past and Future Virtues of Curiosity-Driven Research 11,00 Informing without alarmism MARIO J. MOLINA Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1995 Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (Mass.) Science, Environment and News Media JOSEPH E. MURRAY Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1990 Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston From Bench to Bedside: A Circuitous Road Chairperson ERNESTO AUCI Editor, Il Sole-24 Ore Introduction JORMA ROUTTI Director General, DGXII, European Commission 14,30 Panel: Innovation and society ENRICO CERRAI President, Aem ENORE DEOTTO President, Smau ALFREDO GIANETTI Vice President and Managing Director, Sea ALDO IACONO Managing Director, The Document Company Xerox LUCIO PINTO Chief Technology Officer, Pirelli CLAUDIO ROVEDA President, Amsa Chairperson CLAUDIO CARLONE President, Hypothesis 16,30 Panel: Globalization: promises and pitfalls BENITO BENEDINI President, Assolombarda FEDELE CONFALONIERI President, Mediaset FRANÇOIS DE BRABANT Head of Strategy and Planning Division, Telecom Italia GIOVANNI DE GUZZIS Vice President, Ericsson Telecomunicazioni RENZO TANI Managing Director, Siemens 4 December 5 December 6 December Chairperson ADRIANO DE MAIO Rector, Politecnico of Milan 9,30 The promises of research for society RENATO DULBECCO Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1975 Expert, Cnr Research Area, Milan The Future of Genetic Research JACK STEINBERGER Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1988 Senior Physicist, Cern, Geneva What are High Energy Physicists for? 11,00 In praise of unpredictability HAROLD W. KROTO Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1996 Professor of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Brighton C60 Buckminsterfullerene: Not Just a Pretty Molecule MARTIN RODBELL Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1994 Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences For Unexpected Achievements, Ask the Iconoclast and the Unfettered Mind