62 Research and National Purpose 



suit us. It is far too early to know whether the other planets 

 will offer us significant returns beyond scientific information. 

 The view of Mars which we obtained last summer from the 

 Mariner Probe indicates quite clearly that none of the other 

 planets will ever be the verdant home to us our own is. Never- 

 theless given access to the vast amounts of power which lie at 

 our doorstep we would be foolish to say that the planets will 

 not also become part of our normal heritage. 



On the biological side, we have an infinite realm to explore 

 and use. In fact our understanding of biological phenomena 

 is still in its infancy. I doubt if we will ever really exhaust this 

 field of investigation. We must never forget however that 

 nature has had three billion years to promote biological evolu- 

 tion on our planet. For generations to come, we cannot expect 

 to have more than superficial understanding of the life proc- 

 esses. Physicists and physical chemists have been studying the 

 types of color centers produced in simple alkali halide crystals 

 by radiation for about fifty years and have as yet only a limited 

 understanding of their properties. We should not be over- 

 confident about our ability to master the biological world in 

 any final sense. In this connection I am reminded of an inci- 

 dent which took place during one of John Von Neuman's lec- 

 tures on computers about 1950. He had explained the general 

 principles involved in digital computers and their uses and 

 had entered into the question period. Someone asked if he had 

 any comment to make about the human brain as a result of his 

 work with digital computers. He replied that the brain showed 

 the professional touch. The Lord has been experimenting with 

 biological systems on our planet for several billion years and 

 has developed a very deft hand. We should not expect to 

 achieve professional status in this field in only a few generations. 



Up to this time almost every aspect of science ranging from 

 some of the most abstract parts of mathematics to atomic and 

 nuclear physics has been put to practical use in technology by 

 the applied scientist or the engineer sooner, rather than later. 

 Galactic astronomy has perhaps been one of the exceptions. Yet 



