OCEANOGRAPHY EST THE UNITED STATES 17 



Mr. Vetter, I think that the oceanographic institution that is most 

 desperately in need of a new ship now is the Woods Hole Oceano- 

 graphic Institution, and I would visualize that this ship would be 

 operated entirely by that institution. 



As succeeding ships become available, they should either supple- 

 ment or replace existing ships both in the Navy and at the university 

 laboratories and the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries. 



The Chairman. That is all, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Thank you very much, Mr. Vetter. 



Knowing your intense interest in this work, we will be calling on 

 you from time to time perhaps for advice and assistance. 



Without objection, the report of the Brown committee, the supple- 

 mental reports and other data supplied by Mr. Vetter will be made 

 part of the record. 



(The documents referred to follow :) 



OCEANOGRAPHY, 1960 TO 1970— A REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON 

 OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



[February 1959 (final approved copy) ] 



The complete report of the committee will consist of the following chapters: 



1. Introduction and summary of recommendations. 



2. Basic research in oceanography during the next 10 years. 



3. Ocean resources. 



4. Oceanographic research for defense applications. 



5. Artificial radioactivity in the marine environment. 



6. New research ships. 



7. Engineering needs for ocean exploration. 



8. Education and manpower. 



9. Oceanwide surveys. 



10- International cooperation. 



11. History of oceanography. 



12. Marine sciences in the United States, 1958. 



Chapter 1. Introduction and Summary of Recommendations of the Commit- 

 tee ON Oceanography, National Academy of Sciences and National Re- 

 search Council 



Harrison Brown, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. 



I. introduction 



Two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered by the waters of the seas. The 

 waters themselves greatly affect our lives — they play a major role in governing 

 our climate ; they provide inexpensive transportation ; from them we derive 

 important quantities of nourishment; they have traditionally provided protec- 

 tion against military attack. Beneath the surface a myriad of wonders is 

 concealed. There are trenches, the floors of which are as much as 7 miles below 

 sea level. Mountains which approach Mt. Everest in height rise up from the 

 ocean floor. Sediments in the ocean deeps contain detailed records of earth 

 history — and, associated with it, life history. The more than 300 million cubic 

 miles of water contain huge assemblages of living matter of fantastic variety. 



As our technological civilization increases in complexity, as human popula- 

 tions grow more and more rapidly, as problems of m.ilitary defense become in- 

 creasingly difficult, as man pushes forward with his relentless quest for greater 

 understanding of himself, his origins and the universe in which he lives — as all 

 of these changes take place, detailed knowledge and understanding of the oceans 

 and their contents will assume ever greater importance. 



Man's knowledge of the oceans is meager indeed when compared with their 

 importance to him. Recognizing that neglect in this area of endeavor might 



