DAEL WOLFLE 



resources to basic research as they might, the most severely 

 practical considerations dictate a shift of emphasis and support 

 to more basic research. 



But practical considerations are not the only justification 

 for basic research or for providing adequate support for those 

 who wish to explore the boundaries of nature. Perhaps the most 

 distinctively human characteristic of man is that he asks ques- 

 tions about the past and the future, the very small and the very 

 large, the nature of life, and the reasons for his existence and 

 for the events and objects of which he is a witness. Each using 

 his own special vocabulary, the poet and artist, the religious 

 leader, the philosopher, and the scientist all ask essentially these 

 same questions. Because of their special interests or special 

 knowledge, these men ask more penetrating questions than 

 most men, and often reach more illuminating answers. But all 

 men ask such questions, even though fumblingly and uncer- 

 tainly, and all are therefore helped by the special skill of 

 scholar, poet, artist, and theologian. Such men are leaders of 

 the intellectual, esthetic, and spiritual realms, the realms in 

 which man is most distinctively human. 



It is in this sense that the getting of new knowledge is 

 ennobling. Because it is, the quest deserves the best and most 

 imaginative effort of scholars — and deserves the adequate and 

 appropriate support of society. 



The support of society is given to individual scientists. But 

 in the ultimate sense, the support is not for scientists as indi- 

 viduals but rather for society as a whole. The usefulness of 

 science is to society rather than to the individual scientist, and 

 the ennobling quality of the search for new knowledge con- 

 tributes to the whole of society. In asking that his work be 

 adequately supported, the research scholar is asking for oppor- 

 tunity to be of greater service to society. 



Which of these reasons, the usefulness of basic research or 



252 



