MARINE SCIENCE 89 
about nuclear physics? What about solid state physics? What 
about inorganic chemistry, molecular biology, every possible kind 
of science? What I would say is that oceanography isn’t really 
a science, that what we are concerned with here is a very large 
part of the earth, and a part of the earth that is of infinite im- 
portance to the United States because we are the world’s largest 
island. And so we really do have to have some kind of a special point 
of view and a special development which will lead to our making a 
wiser and better use of the oceans. 
The CaairMAN. Space wasn’t a science. 
Dr. Revetir. The same thing applied to space. Space, atmospheric 
sciences, oceanography—these are all the same. 
The Cuamman. We had to get together a lot of people. 
Dr. Revetin. One of the interesting things that is happening 
The Cuarrman. I handle the appropriations for the Space Agency, 
and I am a member of the Space Committee, and I have gone through 
this. Do you think that we would have moved in space as we have— 
I don’t know if we have a gap or not; that is debatable—if we had 
let every department go by itself? That is the way we started out. 
I have had that experience. Some things had to give some place to 
get this going, and, of course, some people didn’t like it. 
Now when we want to go out in space, to appropriate money, there 
is a correlation, a coordination, and we have the backing of the De- 
partment involved in this, which is not mixed up with the priorities 
of the other departments. That is what I am trying to do in oceanog- 
raphy. 
De Revettz. I might conclude, Senator, by following up on your 
last point. 
I think there is a growing realization among all the peoples of the 
world that we have to use our whole planet better than we are using 
it now. It is quite ironic that this is happening at the same time that 
we are learning how to leave the planet altogether to go out into space. 
But our human populations are increasing so fast, and we are using 
up our easily won resources so fast that man’s future will be pretty 
bleak and dim if he can’t achieve some kind of harmony with his 
own planet. And this harmony has a profoundly human meaning, 
also. We are the creatures of earth, and it doesn’t really matter how 
far we venture into space, or how much we find out about other worlds 
or about other creatures on other worlds. I think that just because 
we are biologically the creatures of earth we are always going to 
return to earth and to think about it as our home. It is a unique 
home, largely because it has oceans. 
For example, in the solar system there is no other planet that has 
both oceans and dry land. The green hills and the blue seas of earth 
are unique to the earth. It is the green hills and the blue seas which 
is the environment in which men evolve and in which men have lived 
for countless generations. Because of our emotional and spiritual 
nature, this will always mean more to us than anything else. 
One implication of this inevitably is that we just have to know more 
about it in order to treat it kindly and reverently and to use it well 
at. the same time. Of course, the very largest part of it is that part 
which is covered by sea water. It is this part which we know least 
about and which in many ways affects all the rest. 
