Moscow's 'Moon'
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL MOSCOW'S MOON' Panic seems the dominant reaction to the Soviet space satellite among those most concerned with U.S. military policy. The panic is understandable, since the tendency until...
...For today any modern society willing to devote adequate funds and intelligence is capable of taking the next step in world science's march into the unknown...
...One, to which some Senators have alluded, is a possible awe in the world at large of Soviet power vis-a-vis the Atlantic community...
...A more universal reaction is admiration for the scientific triumph as such...
...Men have dreamed of the conquest of space for generations, as they have dreamed of the conquest of disease, superstition, fear and poverty on this planet...
...This myth was always silly, for the very atom bomb on which it was based stemmed largely from the initiative and work of European refugees (as well as a basic policy decision by an unusually imaginative President...
...The panic is understandable, since the tendency until now has been to underestimate both the potential of modern science and the abilities of Russian scientists...
...The defense establishment—which had fallen behind in fighter aircraft when it encountered the Soviet MIG in Korea, which may well be behind in submarines now, and which has never taken defense against the new weapons seriously—thus also lagged in the field in which it had staked all: strategic bombing...
...Meanwhile, our propagandists had great fun ridiculing Russian claims to scientific achievement, despite Mendeleyev, Melchnikov, Lobachevsky and Ka-pitsa...
...The U.S...
...Outside the field of military technology (to which totalitarians are always devoted), Soviet science is still largely reaping the fruits of the freer scientific atmosphere of pre-Communist Russia...
...atomic monopoly—for many political reasons—had little influence in Eastern Europe and China between 1945 and 1948...
...scientists, to the detriment of mankind generally as well as the international role of our democracy...
...While the services went on demanding the equipment they best understood, and economy-minded bureaucrats merely cried "Less...
...In the minds of men not involved with the military race, two reactions are significant...
...Quite apart from recent political forays against individual scientists, the national exaltation of the gadgeteer and engineer (at the expense of the scientific thinker and dreamer), as well as top-level indifference to non-military science (viz., our lag in peaceful nuclear energy ), limit the creative possibilities of L'.S...
...Most damaging, however, was the myth of the inevitable superiority of "American" science...
...Japanese...
...This danger, while real, should not be overrated...
...Surely the "moon" over Moscow should stimulate our leaders to a new appreciation of the scientific potential—and of the resources, freedoms and cultural emphases required to sustain it...
...Many factors stood behind this lag: inter-service vendettas, official secrecy, politically-inspired stinginess, a lack of control by two administrations and half-a-dozen Congresses, the hasty willingness of uncritical patriots to demand whatever "experts" demanded...
...services were soon engaged—with the aid of former German rocket-builders—in missiles research...
...We shall have learned our lesson only when we actively expect not only new Russian scientific feats, but Chinese...
...Anyone who advances these dreams will win the instinctive approval of the majority of mankind...
...Nevertheless, the United States is no model in this respect either...
...Nevertheless, the greater share of postwar military spending— literally, hundreds of billions of dollars—went to build B-36, B-50 and B-52 planes whose days had been numbered back in 1944...
...political critics attempted to establish their reputations for defense-mindedness by demanding more piloted bombers and super-carriers...
...Those who judge societies in this way will not be entirely wrong: for respect for scientific creation in the service of man is one, though not the only, hallmark of civilization...
...German and Czech achievements as well...
...Only recently, the Administration scoffed at claims of a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile...
...To be sure, all three U.S...
...The men who produce a cure for cancer or heart disease, or a preventive therapy for mental illness, will earn greater plaudits than politicians of any persuasion...
...With global war now ruled out by the Soviet-American capacity to obliterate humanity, people will continue to make their political decisions on political grounds, the foremost of which is the possibility of individual self-development...
...Although it has always paid its top scientists well, the Stalinist persecution of scientific non-conformists has been notorious...
...Ironically, the LTSSR has been rather lacking in such respect...
...The V-l rocket perfected by the Nazis began raining death on London 13 years ago...
...With radar and similar control devices already realities, it was evident that the piloted bombing plane would ultimately give way to the long-range guided missile...
Vol. 40 • October 1957 • No. 41
