Florian Scheck: Born 1936 in Berlin, son of Gustav O. Scheck, flutist. Studied physics at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Diploma in physics 1962, PhD in theoretical physics 1964. Guest scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel, 1964-1966. Research assistant at the University of Heidelberg, 1966-1968. Research Fellow at CERN, Geneva, 1968-1970. From 1970 until 1976 head of theory group at the Swiss Institute of Nuclear Research (PSI), lecturer and titular professor at ETH
Zurich. From 1976-2005 professor of theoretical physics at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz. Professor emeritus since 2005. Principal field of activity: Theoretical particle physics.

Walter Thirring, Ph.D., is a distinguished mathematical physicist and inventor of the soluble model of a quantum field that bears his name. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in 1949, and he has been professor of physics there since 1959. He has been head of the theory division at CERN, and director of the Erwin Schrodinger Institute in Vienna. The recipient of numerous awards, he is a member of many academies, including twenty years with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and eighteen years with the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. He lives in Vienna, Austria.