Results from the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in nucleus–nucleus and proton–proton collisions at c.m. energy [Formula: see text] are presented in the context of the methods of single and two-particle inclusive reactions which were used in the discovery of hard-scattering in p–p collisions at the CERN ISR in the 1970's. These techniques are used at RHIC in A + A collisions because of the huge combinatoric background from the large particle multiplicity. Topics include J/Ψ suppression, jet quenching in the dense medium (sQGP) as observed with π0 at large transverse momentum, thermal photons, collective flow, two-particle correlations, suppression of heavy quarks at large pT and its possible relation to Higgs searches at the LHC. The differences and similarities of the measurements in p–p and A + A collisions are presented. The two discussion sessions which followed the lectures on which this article is based are included at the end.