OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 127 



Congressional reaction, certainly stimulated by the publicity on the 

 NASCO reports, is reflected in Senate Kesolution 136. This step 

 has been followed by a number of proposals for new legislation that 

 are listed subsequently. The merit of this legislation is a matter 

 that the Congress is now deliberating, but the fact that the level of 

 congressional interest is so high is itself significant. In our form of 

 democratic government, new legislation almost always bears a rela- 

 tionship to public acceptance which itself presupposes adequate public 

 information. 



Moreover, it is clear that, although those who reside on or near our 

 coast are more enthusiastic about projects invohnng the sea, the 

 published discussions may find equal interest by readers living inland. 

 Missiles of intermediate range, launched from hostile submarines 

 operating undetected in international waters off our shores, could 

 reach 95 percent of the industrial complex of this country. Possible 

 future control of climate by a better understanding of the processes of 

 heat transfer to and from the ocean may well water the now arid States. 



Oceanography is but one of a number of fields of science that have 

 been cited as undernourished. At recent hearings b,y several Com- 

 mittees of the Congress concerned with oceanography, concern has 

 been expressed over the hazards of emphasizing one area at the expense 

 of others. Probably during the next few critical years a national polic}^ 

 will emerge, which among other planks, will assure that all deserving 

 scientific efforts will be sponsored up to the lunits of availability 

 of manpower. Limits in manpower will put a very real ceiling 

 on this activity. Recent figures on manpower recently released 

 by the National Science Foundation are rather convincing in 

 showing that the U.S.S.R. is serious in its intent to develop world 

 leadership in the sciences. In a free society, motivating students 

 to enter scientific fields may be the most critical problem, and 

 certainly the NASCO reports underscore need for additional 

 oceanographers. Students are attracted to science because of a 

 specific appeal rather than a general one, and the recent publicity of 

 opportunities to press into the unkno^yn of the sea may well provide 

 incentives. Some of those who enter biologj^ because of initial interest 

 in marine science ma}^ eventuall}" end up in medicine. 



B. PROPOSALS BY THE U.S. KAVY FOR THE "N'EXT TEX YEARS IN 



oceanography" (project TENOC) 



The Navy's traditional responsibilities over the sea domain and its 

 need for knowledge of the ocean, the bottom, and of the interface have 

 been discussed earlier. Yet, despite its activities in charting the sea 

 which date from 1842, until very recently the Navy apparently had no 

 coordinated program of research focused on the oceans. The U.S. 

 Hydrographic Office in 1946, and the Office of Naval Research in 

 1947 undertook specific programs aimed at increasing the basic 

 understanding of the sea, but during intervals when budgets were 

 rising and falling, and the importance of research was considered a 

 "sometime thing," there is little evidence either of a climate for a 

 coordinated naval program in oceanograph}' or the fact of its develop- 

 ment. 



It was thus in 1957 that the Office of Naval Research, in concert 

 with other government agencies, turned to the National Academy of 



