Science: Ocean Frontier

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But like all true scientists, oceanographers are only incidentally interested in the military overtones of their science. They hope that knowledge of the oceans will lead to knowledge of the earth, then of the solar system and the Milky Way galaxy. It may help answer such questions as: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going? "Adolescents ask these questions," says Revelle, "but grown men do not. It is not because they are unimportant questions, but because grown men have given up." The oceanographers have not given up.

Or, in the words of Columbus Iselin: "The cold war and the scientific effort run parallel much of the time. They're both geared toward our learning more. Each has a different motivation. One is survival, and the other is curiosity."