While there are many widely held assumptions about the impact of international scientific congresses (ISCs) on individual scientists, collective bodies, a particular branch of science, or even the establishment of world order, these assumptions have not previously been fully examined or tested empirically. Merritt and Hanson present here the results of their systematic investigation of the uses and consequences of ISCs. Deriving their data from a survey of political scientists from the nonsocialist countries who attended the XIth World Congress of IPSA in Moscow, as well as a control group of North American political scientists who did not attend the Moscow meetings, they provide a solid basis for evaluating the costs vs. the benefits of future scientific congresses.