192 OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 



So despite what Dr. Ewing says, he is using our industrial instru- 

 ments for his best work. 



Furthermore, in a visit which I made there last February or March, 

 he showed me some new seismic records that he had gotten from the 

 Campeche Gulf, which were, he said, by far the best they had ever 

 been able to achieve in deep ocean work. I asked Mm to what he at- 

 tributed this improvement in quality over what they had been able to 

 achieve earlier. 



He described to me a technique which he said they had recently de- 

 veloped, a method of field operations, which has been common practice 

 in the industry for 10 years. 



So I believe we can contribute something to the technology of ocea- 

 nographic research. We already have. We can do more. 



Now, to a lesser extent, a much lesser extent, I believe that some of 

 the Government agencies, the Hydrographic Office, for example, are 

 also unaware of the full capabilities of the geophysical industry. I 

 will say that they have kept up with our capabilities considerably better 

 than the average university has ; but I do not feel that they have done 

 as good a job as they might. 



Now, how did this situation come about ? Wliy is it that there has 

 been this lack of communication between two major groups interested 

 in common problems ? 



Now, for the moment, I would like to take off my hat as a representa- 

 tive of the SEG and stand before you bareheaded as a private citizen, 

 because I want to give you a personal opinion. 



I believe that in the Government there has been a tendency to place 

 too heavy a reliance on the National Academy of Sciences, mucli too 

 heavy. I have the greatest respect for the academicians as scientists. 

 But I am not overawed by them. I know quite a few of them per- 

 sonally. If you will excuse a very personal reference, my father used to 

 be an academician before he passed away. 



Now I am afraid that in certain fields in. the Government, people 

 tend to stand too much in awe of the National Academy, to feel that 

 "the king can do no wrong"; not to question anything that they pro- 

 pose. 



Now this is not true of all Govenmaent agencies. I do not know why 

 it should be true of this one, really. 



For example, in the fields of electronics, aircraft, missiles, and so 

 on, the Government makes very extensive use of industrial R. & D. fa- 

 cilities. But not in the earth sciences. Not in oceanography. Not in 

 other branches of the earth sciences. 



I do not know why this tight little clique exists in this field, but it 

 seems to. I think it is highly undesirable. People tend to review 

 their own proposals. 



There is perhaps — I am still speaking now personally; not as a 

 representative of the society — a possibility of some conflict-of-interest 

 problems here. I would suggest that some of the universities' ethics 

 in this area are not so strict as that of industry ; not the industry that 

 I am in, anyway. 



Professors are not exempt from difficulties of this nature just be- 

 cause they are professors. I used to be one myself; so I know what 

 they are like. 



