14 FRONTIERS IN OCEANIC RESEARCH 



Mr. Miller. Then I will not embarrass you about asking you about 

 the details of the bill, because it hasn't officially been brought before 

 you. 



Dr. Brown. That is correct. 



Mr. Miller. All right, I will confine myself to saying, Dr. Brown, 

 through his chairmanship of this committee, has pointed up the neces- 

 sity for activity and interest in this field. His committee is still ac- 

 tive. You have not filed all of your detailed reports as yet, I believe, 

 have you ? 



Dr. Brown. That is correct. 



Mr. Miller. So that it is in the process of getting these reports 

 together. 



I want to point out for the sake of the record, that this field cuts 

 across a number of agencies of Government. First, the Navy has a 

 primary interest in it in the interest of defense, and that is the 

 emphasis that has been given and one of the things that has brought 

 it to light. 



The Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, or the Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice of the Department of the Interior has a major interest in the bio- 

 logical field of oceanography. This is one that perhaps has the over- 

 riding importance on the long haul. If we can bring some semblance 

 of peace within the world within the next 40 or 50 years, when we are 

 all gone, then the demands for the products of the ocean that we have 

 not even begun to assess and evaluate, are going to be in the fore ; do 

 you agree with that, Dr. Brown? 



Dr. Brown. Yes ; I do. 



Mr. Miller. So that this is not a short-term program. We are 

 behind in this program. 



We are not putting one-tenth or one-hundredth of the energy into 

 this program that is so important — 70 percent of the Earth, the area 

 of the Earth, is in oceans. 



The doctor mentioned things we get. We take magnesium from 

 the ocean directly ; do we not ? 



Dr. Brown. Yes. 



Mr. Miller. Boron products come from the sea. 



But we don't know much about the sea, there are so many possi- 

 bilities, and so forth, that this is a field that too much emphasis 

 cannot be put into, and the thing I subscribe to, and I hope that this 

 committee will confine its interests to, is not trying to go in and upset 

 the relationship between other governmental agencies that are pres- 

 ently working to — ad hoc committees and coordinating committees are 

 beginning to work out the relationships of one with the other in the 

 field of oceanography — but confine its efforts to trying to get some 

 grants out of the National Science Foundation in the field of oceanog- 

 raphy so that we can have the men that we so badly need in this field. 



Now, this is not a field — there is, I think, the doctor will agree, and 

 those who follow him — there is no such a thing as a degree in oceanog- 

 raphy at the present time, is there? 



Dr. Brown. That is correct. 



Mr. Miller. In other words, this is composed of people from other 

 disciplines of science. They come in through chemistry, or engineer- 

 ing, or physics, and then confine themselves or specialize in the science 

 and the studies of the sea. 



