Kraus Challenge of the Space Age 1960

8/13/2019 Kraus Challenge of the Space Age 1960

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THE CHALLENGE OF THE SPACE AGE

by John D. Kraus

Commencement AddressThe Ohio State University-

March 18, 1960

Pre sid ent Fawcett , Judge Gorm an, Senator Bri cke r, me mb er s

of the facult y, me mb er s of the gra dua tin g cl as s, and fri end s:

We stan d at a mom ent in ti me called the pr es en t. It divi des all

ti me into two pa rt s , a pas t and a fu tur e. Lookin g back to the pas t we

have ra th er co mplet e accounts of ma n' s imm edi ate histo ry but the f art her

back we go the l e s s we know, and our knowl edge is dim indeed of man ' s

ea rl ie st beginn ings on thi s planet.

From the most recent evidence available many scientists believe

that the earth is about five billion yeara old, while man as a distinct

creature -- that is, the species homo sapiens is about one million

ye ar s old. Com par ed to billio ns of ye ar s, a million y ea rs is but a litt le

while ago and to an as tr on om er it is but a mom en t. As we ar e ga th ere d

he re this morni ng ther e is in the sky almo st dir ectl y overhead a

cel est ial radi o so ur ce calle d Cygnus A. It is a ve ry stron g ra di o

source and one which we have observed and studied innumerable times

at our Radio Ob se rv at or y he re at The Ohio Stat e Un iv er si ty . Yet it is

so far away that it takes the radio waves, traveling nearly 700 million

mil es per hou r, about 200 million ye ar s to re ac h us . Thu s, the rad io

wav es fr om th is dis tan t object which ar e falling on us at th is mo me nt

ar e wav es which st ar te d on th ei r jou rney 200 milli on y e ar s ago. At

that ti me di no sau rs we re ro ami ng the ear th , and ma n' s eme rg en ce was

sti ll 199 mill ion y e ar s in the fut ure .


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F ro m a slow early development man 's pro gr es s and acco mpli sh

men ts have bee n at an in cr ea si ng ly rapi d ra t e. In th is connection it is

inst ructi ve to rec all man' s his tor y on an accel erat ed t ime scale . Thus ,

let us say th at the ear th , in st ead of being five bil lio n ye a r s old, is one

ye ar old. Th en on such a ti me sca le man ha s been on the ear th for only

the last two hours; the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt reigned 20 seconds

ago; the United States gained its independence one second ago; and the

airplane, radio, and automobile were invented about 1/4 of a second ago.

Ma n' s hi st or y is one of ac cel er at in g dev elo pmen t. It was a mill ion

ye ar s from m an' s f irst faltering, upright steps to the Wright Br ot he r ' s

fi rs t flight at Kitty Hawk. But now 57 y e a r s la t er we sta nd on the

th re sh ol d of ma n' s fi rs t flights into sp ace . Although it took man a

million y e ar s to ma st er the ear th, he ma st er ed the ai r in le ss than 60

years and he now looks to the conquest of space.

The deca de of the 19 60's , wh ich we have ent ere d, ha s been aptly

named the sp ace age. Wh ere as ma n' s ea rl ie r development is divided into

eons or mil len iu ms, the rap id accele rat ion in his pr og re ss mean s that a

decade now may witness more development than centuries did a short while

ago. You have the unique hon or and al so the gr ea t chal le nge of being the

fi rs t cl as s to gr ad ua te fro m The Ohio Stat e Univ ers ity in th is new decad e

of the space age.

Let us consider some of the things that may be accomplished in

this dec ade . Man may con str uct manned arti ficia l sate ll ite s of the ear th .


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He may ex pl or e so me of our ne ar es t ne ig hb or s in sp ac e, the moon, and

the pla net s M ar s and Venus; and if cond itio ns ar e not too forbid ding, may

even begin th ei r colonization. In la te r decad es his per so nal explo ratio n

will turn to the more remote parts of the solar system and even to stars

and pla net ary sy st em s that lie far outside our so la r sy st em . Man 's flights

into space will open a frontier which is infinite in extent.

In thinking about outer spac e, spac e explo ratio n, and spa ce st ati ons ,

it is wor th noting, as Pr o fe ss o r F r ed Hitchco ck of our Medi cal Co lleg e

points out , that in a ve ry r e a l sense we now inhabit a space stat ion which

we call the plan et eart h. It is a ne ar ly sp he ri ca l spa ce sta tio n about 8, 000

miles in diameter which revolves around a star at a distance of nearly 100

mill ion mi le s. Th is st ar , wh ich we cal l the sun, fu rni she s the light and

heat for our space station while our space station's gravitational field holds

a blanket of air or atmosphere which we can breathe and which protects us

fro m the x -r ay s and other radia tio ns which impinge fro m without. Our

sp ace stati on is self-su ffici ent, and the plan ts and ani mal s which have

evolved upon its sur fac e have adapted th ems el ve s to its env iro nmen t. Thu s,

in leav ing the ear th man will be tr ad in g one sp ace sta tio n in whos e en vi ro n

ment he is secure for other space stations, where he will, in perhaps all

ca se s, need to provid e his own envi ronm ent.

Why sho uld ma n ve nt ur e fr om the ea rt h, and what of wo rt h will he

find? If t h er e is anything which dis tin gu ish es man fro m other an im al s,

it is his cu ri os it y about the un iv er se and the laws which gov ern it. It

is in her en t in ma n' s natu re that he will go on obs erv in g, exp lor ing , and


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dis cov eri ng into the re mo te st future. It is inevit able that th er e will

be d i scove r ie s of vast consequence; bu t what these a r e , we do not now

know and may not even remotely suspect.

The situation which faces you and faces us all as we enter the

new sp ace age is a mill ion ti me s mo re sign ifican t to man and his future

than that on the eve of Columbus's voyages 468 years ago. The challenge

before us is the gr ea t es t in man ' s h i s tory . It wi ll r eq u i r e all the imagin

ation, flex ibil ity, and dar ing which you can mu st er to mee t th e chall eng e.

It will require dedication and diligence but the possibilities are limitless.

Although man now has at his disposal frightening powers of self-destruc

tion which st ag ge r the imag ina tio n, we would be pe ss i mi st s indeed to

believe that having p rog r essed thus far man ' s p r og r e ss wi ll stop now.

We should beli eve that the gr ea te st d is cov eri es are yet to be made, the

gr ea te st inv enti ons yet to co me, and I don't mean just in oute r sp ac e.

Th er e ar e new fr on ti er s in inn er sp ac e, the exp lor ati on of the atom and

of nuc lea r power and its li mi tl ess pos sib ili tie s. Th er e ar e fro nti ers in

medi cine, ag ri cu lt ur e, and in the ar ts . But the gr eat es t fro ntie r of all

lies in man himself and his capacity to develop.

Let us not disco unt the fut ure . We should bel iev e that to mo rr ow may

br ing g r e a t e r co mp os e r s , s t a t esmen , and sc ien t i s t s than any of the past .

For all that we know this graduating class of 1960 may have within its

ra nk s a fut ure Moza rt, a new Jef fer son , or ano the r Ei ns te in . If the hum an

race is to progress, we must believe that such persons will emerge and

we must provide the opportunity and environment for them to develop.


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But to meet the challenge of the space age will take more than

wishing, it will re qu ir e hard work; it will take mor e than do ll ar s, it will

re qu ir e a kee n rea li zat io n of what is impo rta nt and what is worth while .

We need l es s arro ga nc e and mo re humi lity and dedicati on. We need l es s

emphasis on a high standard of living and more on a high standard of

thinking and doing.

The United States is the best-fed and best-clothed nation in the

worl d with mo r e lu xu ri es, mo re wealth than any other nation. By co m

par ison, R u s s i a ' s 200 mil l ions a r e poorly fed, poorly clothed, and wi th

few if any lu xu ri es . Yet Ru ss ia is tu rni ng out twic e as many sc ie nt is ts

and engineers as we do, and is moving ahead in science at a prodigious

r a t e. The Sov iets app ear to have as a nati onal policy the obj ecti ve of

cont rolli ng na tu re , and they rec og niz e the vital fact that to cont rol na tu re

you mus t fi rs t un der st and it. And so they a r e pushi ng ahea d at top spe ed

in all ar eas of basi c re se ar ch . Thei r scie nti sts are working har d. The ir

stud ents ar e workin g ha rd . As one Russ ion vi si to r wryl y re ma rk ed when

asked if th er e we re many fai lur es among th eir stud ent s, " Th ey eith er pa ss

or they die trying, "

Acc or di ng to Dr . Allen Hynek, f or me rl y of Ohio St ate , we cannot

buy success in sc ience m ere ly by pouring mo r e money into ha r dw a r e . We

mus t work ha rd at fund ament als. He re po rt s that the U.S .S .R . is full

of ins titu tes for fundamental stu die s of all kind s, including ocean ogr aphy

and me te or ol og y. He feel s that if and when con tro l of the wea th er co me s,

it may be dominated by the Russians because they were first to learn all

about it.


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In Ru ssi a scient ists and tea che rs a re highly res pec ted and re cei ve

the hig hes t sa l ar i es . Is it any wonder then that the ir be st tal ent is

att rac ted to the se ar ea s? Her e at hom e many engin eering gr adu ate s

have the pick of many jobs at salaries higher than those of the univer

sity pro fe ss or s who taught th em. Thi s is but one of the re as on s that it

is terribly difficult to keep competent teachers in our schools and

un iv er si ti es . And this is at a ti me when the demand for lar ge r nu mb er s

of be tt er tr ain ed gra du ate s is high er than ever bef ore . Without good

tea che rs a uni ver sit y's buildings are just so many bri cks and i ts la bo ra

tor y faci lit ies so much ha rd wa re , gl ass , and iro n.

Thus , the chal len ge of the sp ace age is do ub le -b ar re ll ed . One

b a r r e l i s the challenge of the space f ront ie r . The other b a r r e l i s

Ru ss ia . And unfo rtun ately it is mainl y the Ru ss ian b a r r e l which is

goading us into action. Ru ss ia po ses a te rr ib ly gr av e thr eat mil it ari ly ,

scientif ically, economi cally, and politi cally. We should cer tai nly do

somethi ng about th ese th re at s. But thi s is not enough bec aus e in me re ly

countering these threats it is really Russia which is setting the pace.

We should have long range objectives which are worthwhile and durable

in th ei r own ri gh t. Dr . J am e s A, Van Allen of the Stat e Uni ver sit y of

Iowa put s it th is way. He fee ls that the mos t du ra bl e obj ect ive the United

States could have as a matter of national policy is the support of basic

research stemming from curiosity in all fields of science and human

end eavo r. Only when our go ve rnm en t re co gn iz es th is fact can we expect

re al pr og re ss instead of the cat ch- up- wit h-t he- Rus sian s kind. An


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encourag ing fir st s tep in this dir ectio n was announced by Pr es id en t

Eisenhower last month with his appointment of a National Goals Commis

sion to recommend basic and far-reaching national policies for the next

decade or mo re . Thi s co mmi ssi on , accord ing to the Pr esi de nt , ha s the

oppor tunity to sound a cal l for gr ea tn es s to a re so lu te people in the b es t

tra di tio n of ou r founding fa th er s. It is to be hoped that a p ro gr am with

posit ive and enduring objectives may be forthcoming.

But it should not be necessary for me to remind you that in a

democracy each one of us has the opportunity and responsibility to

develop his own best talents and apply them to the utmost of his ability.

You, as graduates of one of our great universities, have a unique oppor

tunit y to me et the chal leng e of the spac e age. But you r gro wth and

devel opmen t cannot stop with the re ce ip t of a col leg e de gr ee . Th is

ma rk s the culmi nat ion of only a fo rm al and int ens ive ph ase of your

educat ion , and to kee p pac e with the ra pi d developmen ts of the fut ure you

will need to continue your education informally through observation,

rea di ng , and sel f-s tu dy . You will have to ru n to me re ly stand st il l.

I like to think of this p erpe tual self- educat ion as an "op erati on bo ot st rap "

by wh ich each of us continually lifts himself in knowledge and unders tanding.

Our le ad er s can fo rm ul at e pol ici es to guide our effor ts, but what

th is natio n wil l be 10, 50, or 100 ye a r s fr om now will depend in the

mo st vit al way on the cont ribu tio n each one of us mak es . The ov era ll

ach ie ve men ts of any nation ar e th e su m total of the ac co mp li sh me nt s, both

good and bad , of each indivi dual cit ize n. We should r em em b e r that any

ta sk worth doing at all is wo rt h our be st effort.


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I should like to mention now several matters which we as individuals

and as a nation must do something about if we are to meet the challenge

of th e sp ac e a ge .

F i rs t , as ind ivid uals and as a nation, we de sp er at el y need to do all

we can to mak e teaching a mo re attra cti ve pro fess ion . Thi s me an s hig her

sa la ri es , mu ch higher sa la ri es . But even mo re impor tant i t means mor e

understanding and respect for the profession and a recognition of good

teachi ng wh er ev er it is found. The firs t Alumni Awar ds for Distin guish ed

Teach ing co nfe rre d two weeks ago on five Ohio State Univ ersi ty pr of es so rs

ar e pr og re ss iv e moves toward such recognition . We need mo re incentives

and rewards of this kind for outstanding work not only in teaching but in

many other fiel ds. We may have no ro yal ti tl es or knigh thoo ds to co nfer,

but we can ce r ta i n ly r e w a r d excel lence of achievement in o ther ways .

Second, we need to make careers in scientific research and in

engi neeri ng mor e att rac ti ve. This is to a con sid era ble extent a function

of our education al sy ste m. The sci enc e and engin eering are n ec es sa ry

for su rv iva l, but we need an educ atio nal pr o g r am that is also str on g in

the hu ma ni ti es if we ar e to hav e a cu lt ur e wor th sur viv ing for . It is not

tha t we nee d sc ie nc e in pl ace of the hu ma ni ti es , it is that we need both

science and the humanities each having a proper respect and appreciation

for the ot he r. In fact I feel that the new de ma nd s may fall even hea vi er


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on the hu man it ie s. As Pr of es so r Cha rl es Fr an ke l of Columbi a Univ ersit y

points out,

"The scientific imagination of the twentieth centuryhas shown re ma rk ab le flexibility and dar ing . Th er e is noreason in the nature of things why our social imaginationcannot show some of the same qualities, or why it cannotesc ape as mod ern scien ce has fro m the back yar d of itsold co mmo np la ce s and do gm as . If it did, its a ch ie ve me nt scould be even greater than the shooting of satellites into thesky."

Th is is the chall eng e to the hu ma ni ti es , and pl ea se note that I have

jus t been quoting, no t a scient ist or engineer, bu t a p ro fessor of

philosophy.

Th ird , we should give mo re recogni tion to the imp or tan t place

which wom en have in the nati onal sc en e. Not only ar e they the an ch or s

of our ho me s and the mot he rs of our next ge ne rat io n, but they have men tal

abi lit ies which we as a nati on ar e uti lizi ng only to a ve ry s ma ll exten t.

It ha s been sai d, and ri gh tl y so, that th e woman br ai n power of the

United Stat es is our gr eat est untapped natur al re so ur ce . Th ere are

eno rmo us opp ortu niti es for women in sci enc e, engi neeri ng, and medi cine ,

to mention only a few areas.

Fo ur th , we should, as a national objective , g ive vast ly g re at er

suppo rt to ba si c or cr ea ti ve re se ar ch . Thi s is the pion eerin g or founda

tion r es ea r ch on which our whole scientific st ru ct ur e sta nd s. It is the

research, as President Eisenhower has said, which "unlocks the

se cr et s of na tu re and pr ep ar es the way for such great break thro ugh s

as atom ic fis sio n, el ec tr on ic s, and anti bio tics . . . " We mu st know


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what binds an atom, what mak es a vi ru s multiply, wh ere cos mic ra ys

co me fr om . If man no lon ger se ar ch es for knowledg e and tr ut h for it s

own sak e, he is no lo nge r man .

Our knowledge is like the area inside a circle and the unknown

like the ar ea outside. The mo re we le arn the gr ea te r the ci rc le be co mes ,

but so also does the edge of the c i r c l e or f ront ier of the unknown. Thus ,

the conque st of na tu re and of th e unknown co ns ti tu tes an en dl es s fr on ti er

that will challenge man as long as he is capable of thinking and wondering.

The need for creative research and creative thought in all fields

is abundantly clear not only for national survival but for the survival

of the hu man r a ce . As the famous Brit is h as tro ph ys ic is t F re d Hoyle

puts it, " T h e nation that neglects c rea t ive thought today will a s s u re d ly

have its nose ground into the dust of tomorrow.

And wh er e be tt er can thi s cr ea ti ve effort be acco mpl ish ed th an

in the un iv ers it ies of our land? It is the un iv ers it ie s 1 task to push

back the f ront ie rs of knowledge and to teach the new facts and d i s cove r ie s

along with the old to in cre asi ng ly la rg er nu mb er s of stu den ts. Our

un iv er si ti es ar e one of our ve ry gr ea te st re so u rc es for the futu re, and

their support should receive the highest priori ty.

It is not se cu ri ty which mak es a nation gr eat , it is re sp on se t o

chal leng e. But as phy sici st and Dean Em er it us Alpheus Smith of our

Grad uate School, one of Ohio St ate 's gre at es t and mos t dedicated sc ho la rs ,

has warned , unl ess we have high on our lis t the pr es er va ti on of ch ar ac te r

and of the freedom to inquire we shall not survive at all.


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In our f ree soc iet y th e pr ob le m is one on which ever yo ne can and

mu st he lp . If you, the fi rs t gra dua tin g cla ss in the new sp ac e age of

the 1 960 's, and we all face up to the cha lle nge , t h er e is no li mi t with

God's help to what we can do.

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Kraus Challenge of the Space Age 1960