Re: the value of science

["Richard W. Tarara" <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

I certainly would agree with Leigh on the Hubble, but I'll go part-way with
Jim on weapons research.  It would be nice if we lived in a world where such
wasn't needed, but....  I'm not that upset with the weapons RESEARCH, that
is, I'm not unhappy that we have learned HOW to build a B2 bomber, or are
trying to figure out how to shoot down ballistic missiles.  Actually
building a fleet of the monstrosities is another thing entirely.  The result
of the B2 research _should_ have been, yes we can do it, but the things are
too damn expensive and serve too little purpose to justify the expense.  If
we figure out how to shoot down missiles (and the Soviet military machine
doesn't do a 'Phoenix') then we would only need a small system to protect us
from rogue states--not a trillion dollar umbrella.  How many multi-billion
dollar aircraft-carriers do we really need?  So I say 'do the research' but
carefully look at the science/economics/military strategy before spending
billions on procurement.

Rick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Leigh Palmer" <palmer@SFU.CA>

> At 10:01 AM -0800 3/2/00, Jim Green wrote:
>
> > I don't know about the Laboratories -- There appears to be mixed
reviews --
> > But no one else has the power to take our money and spend it on the likes
> > of the Hubble Telescope --a project of great interest for astronomers and
> > cosmologists but of absolutely no value to the people who provided the
> > money.  I wish I had my money back.  Let the feds solicit donations.  OR
to
> > spend the money on nuclear weapon research.  This was good -- sort of.
>
> While I doubt that three people on this list would agree with you, I will
> offer to send you an amount equivalent to your share in the Hubble Space
> Telescope. How much are you into it for? Many people would consider it
> worthwhile for entertainment value alone (and noble entertainment it is,
> in my opinion). HST is certainly worth a few E tickets, even setting aside
> the tremendous scientific value of this once uniquely capable facility.
>
> One of our sons will soon move to Los Alamos National Laboratory where he
> will be engaged in pure science. I hope it gives you some comfort that
> this laboratory also does weapons research. For my part I would love to
> have back all the money I paid the US Government for DOD waste. I expect
> that is of a different order of magnitude than the HST bill. Describing
> weapons reasearch in a time of relative security as "good -- sort of" is,
> in my opinion, slightly monstrous.
>
> You really gored my herd that time, Jim.
>
> Leigh