Chapter 3 Basic Science-Key to Understanding Our Planet 



The spirit which has carried us to rugged mountain 

 peaks, remote polar ice caps, and distant reaches 

 of outer space now propels us to the ocean deeps. 

 This spirit is fortified with a confidence developed 

 by past contributions of science that we will not 

 only conquer the ocean deeps, but will use them in 

 satisfying the needs of our society. 



Hubert H. Humphrey 

 Vice President 



The fundamental challenge and motivation for 

 science is to expand man's understanding of 

 himself and his environment. Society supports the 

 scientist's quest for basic knowledge because its 

 citizens share his curiosity and his faith that this 

 knowledge will yield unforeseen advances in the 

 quality of their lives. Our physical home is a 

 composite of interacting earth, sea, sun and air, 

 and an understanding of the oceans as a major link 

 in the indivisible whole is vital to any real 

 comprehension of the planet. 



The oceans represent the dominant feature of 

 our physical environment. They were the cradle of 

 life and their basins were linked, in ways not yet 

 fully understood, to the arrangement of the 

 continents. Many of the world's secrets may 

 therefore be expected to lie locked in or under the 

 oceans. 



While studies aimed toward illuminating the 

 fundamental riddles of ocean science have been 

 receiving increased attention and support, the 

 origins of this Nation's interest in the seas have 

 been largely pragmatic, and there continues to be a 

 tendency to require at least a prospect of tangible, 

 economic pay-off from most of the scientific 

 work. This requirement must not be pervasive. 



It is our view, and we wish to express it as 

 clearly and forcefully as possible, that under- 

 standing our planetary oceans is itself a vital goal 

 of the marine science effort, and one whose 

 cogency is borne out in any historical perspective. 



Science born of disinterested intellectual curios- 

 ity is not designed for specific gain, but it has 

 produced, with compelling regularity, applications 

 which have literally changed the face of the earth. 

 Man tried to know and measure the nature of the 

 stars and the planets long before mariners used 



them to navigate by. Knowledge of the relief of 

 the deep ocean bottom, at first pursued for purely 

 scientific reasons, was soon sought for practical 

 applications such as trans-ocean telegraph cables. 



We see clearly the necessity for attacking the 

 problems of resource management and develop- 

 ment, of envirormiental prediction, or those 

 associated with National security, but only dimly 

 the need for the knowledge to come from the 

 pursuit of our intellectual curiosity. In fact, the 

 temptation to concentrate on the solutions to 

 specific, near-term problems is almost over- 

 whelming. 



A program of basic marine science directed 

 toward the understanding of our whole planet 

 must be regarded as a National investment of our 

 scientific and intellectual resources with utility 

 above and beyond its immediate return. It must 

 also be regarded as the sound way to guarantee 

 that the United States has, at all times, a pool of 

 talented and knowledgeable manpower upon 

 which to draw in hours of danger to our physical 

 or economic health, or our National security. 



The oceans have traditionally been a highway 

 of commerce, a source of nutrition, and an area of 

 struggle. In the future, use of the oceans as a 

 source of raw material will increase, marine foods 

 will play an increasing role in nutrition, and it 

 seems certain that the oceans will remain an area 

 of power struggle. The nation must maintain its 

 reserves of marine scientists and marine expertise 

 at a level equal to the many problems likely to 

 face us, as the seas become more important to all 

 of the nations of the world. With increasing 

 frequency, crisis situations require the trained 

 marine specialist, as, for example, the search for 

 the submarine Thresher, the search for the nuclear 

 bomb off Spain, and the cleanup of the Torrey 

 Canyon oil spill. 



How should the marine science community 

 organize for its share of the total task of planetary 

 understanding? 



In the light of our traditions, of the nature of 

 the scientists, and of our National history of 

 scientific achievement through freedom of inquiry, 

 it is clear that regimentation is not the answer. 

 Scientific activity gravitates quite naturally to the 



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