Towards the theory of matter, geometry and information Arkadiusz Jadczyk 1 Some history The first year of my graduate studies had passed and I still had no idea of what my PhD was to be about. Lopuszanski was an expert in quantum field theory, the most advanced and the least understood branch of theoretical physics. My attempts to understand it, to “really” understand, had been unsuccessful. From long discussions with my advisor I got the impression that I am asking questions which he has no answers for. Perhaps no one can answer these questions? I didn’t know. I was getting desperate. Many years later I realized that my questions could not be answered within the standard paradigm of quantum theory, that the very foundations of quantum theory needed to be changed. I didn’t know then that in the future, for my own work on the foundations of quantum theory I would get the Humboldt Award. Not knowing what the future would bring, with time passing so fast, and with my understanding of physics and mathematics progressing so slowly I was becoming seriously afraid that I would never be able to find a worthy, unsolved problem, and to solve it within the next three years. Fortunately help was underway. Since 1965, usually in February or March, the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Wroclaw was organizing, in the mountain resort of Karpacz, the International Winter School of Theoretical Physics, each year devoted to a different topic, with invited top expert lecturers from all over the world. It was a real heaven for the young PhD student in distress. In 1968 Lopuszanski agreed to be the Director of the 5-th School, and he chose as the topic the “Axiomatic Approach to Quantum Field Theory and the Many Body Problem ”. It was just right for me! 1