DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER 



economic and cultural strength. Vigilance and effort are re- 

 quired. 



I am told that fewer than 30,000 scientists and engineers, 

 or less than two hundredths of one per cent of our population, 

 are now engaged in basic research. Only about four per cent of 

 our scientists and engineers are engaged in basic research. Edu- 

 cators and scientists warn us that we need to step up this effort, 

 if we are to move forward on the broadest scientific front. I 

 think that this has to be a studied effort. Although we have 

 long known that necessity is the mother of invention, we can- 

 not depend upon accident to bring about these advances that 

 we need. 



All of us know the old story of finding that cooked meat 

 was much better than raw meat, when the ancient Chinese had 

 his barn burned down and a bunch of pigs were in it. Well, he 

 found out about crackling — that it was very good. 



Another accident, and for this story I am indebted to a 

 friend of mine here who is far too shy and modest to want me 

 to identify him. This man needed a hearing aid, and he went 

 to the store and he found that the cheapest one was two 

 hundred dollars. When he learned they ran up to eight hun- 

 dred, he decided this was clearly outside his pocketbook range 

 and so he decided to make one himself — which he did, and he 

 worked it with pretty good effect. 



Finally, a man said to him, "Now tell me, Bill, does this 

 thing really work?" 



He answered, "Of course not, but it makes everybody talk 

 louder." 



We cannot afford to look for our advances in this kind of 

 result, even if the result was, in this case, only psychological. 



In seeking out and educating the necessary talent we need 

 to insure, as we have done in the past, that the search for 

 fundamental knowledge can best be undertaken in areas and in 



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