ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 67 



Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgi, scientist and physician, and a Nobel 

 Prize winner in medicine, expressed his support for S. 901 in a letter 

 from Woods Hole, Mass., where he dk-ects the Laboratory of the 

 Institute for Muscle Research. Dr. Szent-Gyorgi and the committee 

 have had previous correspondence with regard to this proposed 

 legislation. 



In his latest letter Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgi stated in part : 



There is one point, perhaps, which I may not have suf- 

 ficiently emphasized in my earlier letter, and this is the 

 unity of the living world and science. 



For many decades the trend was to subdivide natui'e and 

 science into new fields. Now we begin to understand the 

 great unity of nature, which is built on a limited number of 

 basic principles. The difference is very important. 



Earlier, we thought we would be able to solve more com- 

 plex problems, such as different diseases, by a direct attack, 

 by shortcuts. Shortcuts have turned out to be blind alleys 

 and we have learned that the only really safe and fruitful way 

 is to go down, first, to the foundations of nature (this is basic 

 research), and then come up with some newly won deeper in- 

 sight to the specific areas. 



To quote an example of my specific personal experience. 

 I was always interested, exclusively in basic phenomena. 

 All the same, unexpectedl}^, 30 years ago I discovered vitamin 

 C, which, since, has saved many lives and has helped to build 

 millions of healthy bodies. 



Though not being a cancer researcher, I could make, 

 lately, a very important contribution to cancer research, 

 and I hope that, someday, my basic studies on muscle may 

 yield a clue to dystrophy. I would almost be inclined to 

 say that anybody who wants to solve cancer has little chance 

 to do so, but anyone who studies basic phenomena of life 

 does have a chance. 



This is important to your problem, because the ocean, 

 the cradle of life, oft'ers innumerable possibilities for the ap- 

 proach of its most basic problems, a part from offering, also, 

 solutions for more immediate needs. 



Dr. Szent-Gyorgi expressed regret at not being able to attend the 

 hearings on S. 901, explaining that on the dates scheduled he would be 

 abroad. 



Office of Education 



Success of the 10-3"ear program of oceanographic and Great Lakes 

 research proposed in S. 901, in the report of the National Committee 

 on Oceanography of the National Academy of Sciences, and in the 

 TENOC (Ten Years of Oceanography) program proposed by the 

 Navy and Defense Departments, will depend largely on the training 

 and education of many more marine scientsts — ^biologists, physicists, 

 chemists, geologists, meteorologists, and those who have specialized 

 in branches of these disciplines. 



Education and training of men and women in these professions 

 requu-es time, more time in fact, than building ships and laboratories. 



