Dimensions of a new age; Introduction

This is mansion. From the Radio-TV University. School. We are all of us newly arrived in the age of space and we have come so quickly swirling about us are powerful influences likely to have upon our lives the most prodigiously impact known to mankind in the last 500 years. Yet we can barely grasp the magnitude of these social forces. We can only guess at their meaning. Does it signify for us to live in a world of such a suddenly extended proportions toward the answer. Radio television. The University of Texas has prepared this recorded radio series produced under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio Center in cooperation with the National Association of educational

broadcasters. We present dimensions of the new age. And now here is our moderator Roderick Meyer for the first time in his history man has entered a new age with a full realisation that he has done so. He knows that he has crossed the threshold into the realm of space and he knows that this threshold is far more than he ever thought it was. It is not just a boundary marking the place where reaches of nothingness begin. It is a prelude to a future which defies imagination. But here his awareness boggles. Just what is this we human creatures have got ourselves into. And how does it promise to color all the varied compartments of our familiar every day lives in the programs to follow we have asked leading space authorities to interpret this age for us in specific down to earth terms to suggest what it may hold for us in medicine or law or economics in education communications social welfare. Later in today's

broadcast you will hear a brief or a taste of what these men have to say. But first to help us get our bearings to make a beginning foray into the implications of space here is Major General John beam a DeRose former chief of the United States Army Ordnance Missile Command. Among other past challenges of the space age have broader implications in terms of our progress as a nation. Our position among the other nations of the world. And the security of the free world. In a more subtle way these implications have profound impact upon the psychology of man. Particularly upon those who lack the means of self defense. And the means to improve their living standards to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps they cannot. Do people in that an enviable situation there is but one choice. They have but one chance to determine. Which choice from among the

leaders of the earth. Will lead to their successful maintenance of national stature. In the course of my remarks I will try to isolate some of the broad implications and discuss them to the extent that time permit. Any one of these aspects deserves much fuller treatment than I can devote to it. Perhaps I can at least outline the more significant areas in a way that will have some value for you and stimulate your further thinking and study. What I have to say may have only a faint resemblance to what might be expected from a general officer of the defense establishment. I do not intend to plead the cause a bigger guns a bigger bombers or a bigger ship. There's been altogether too much emphasis upon the means of mass destruction. As the one best way to preserve a most uncertain peace. So I do not intend to offer any easy solution. Or to tell you how we may buy a bigger

bang for a buck. We cannot meet the challenge of the Space Age by military means alone. We must however consider the intrusion of advancing technology into the military situation. I began my career as a Marine in World War 1. I acquired thus early a knowledge of the warfare of that time. I fought in North Africa Sicily and Europe in World War 2. The combination of those experiences has provided me I believe with an understanding of conventional warfare. By that I mean the type of armed conflict. Which involves masses of manpower and familiar weapons systems whose characteristics are limited their usefulness to wait to rest year old or an aerial environment. Now a new kind of weapon system has come into being in the form of the long range ballistic missile. It has introduced a new element into the measure of military power. That has

compelled a re-evaluation of the most basic concepts of tactics and strategy. Time and geographical factors have been eliminated. The combination of rocket propulsion with effective guidance and the destructive power of the nuclear warhead. Have erased all physical barriers to conquest. No place on the earth's surface is immune. To the awesome threat of total destruction that is represented by these automatically controlled devices travelling outside the sensible atmosphere. There hypersonic velocities. Almost. But I don't think quite if I intercept. The pendulum. Presently certainly has swung far towards the op amps. And will take time. And much effort. The finest kind of coordinated scientific and technological performance to provide a

means of defense or of defenses that will bring the scales back into reasonable balance. Now if this were all there is to the progress of rocketry it would most assuredly constitute a major challenge to our inventiveness and our resourcefulness. But there is more. Much more. And the total meaning is I believe just beginning to dawn on intelligent people. Essentially the same technology involved in the development of giant military rockets. Can be successfully applied to develop outer space transportation systems. I'm speaking now of the physical means the mechanical device is propelled by chemical fuel. By which can man can break away from the gravitational force. That has bound him to this earth since he first walked erect. We are confronted by potential so tremendous in its significance that anything man has undertaken in the past

pales by comparison. Is about to extend his dominion into that limitless environment that has beckoned to many many successive generations of man. Is shortly to discover wonders that have gone undetected and unknown for countless ages. No one can possibly foretell the eventual results of this magnificent adventure. Here is a challenge to quicken any man's pulse. And the fact that we. In this country do not enjoy a monopoly of the means to that end simply underlines the importance of the challenge facing us. Let us examine some of the other influences of this unprecedented set of circumstances circumstances that have been brought upon us by a relentless march of technology. The United States has invested 25 billion dollars in missile programs since 1950. Obviously a large segment of the national

economy has been directly affected. I am not prepared to justify all that enormous expenditure. It has been my good fortune to be responsible for a considerable part of it. And for that part I accept full responsibility. Much of our industrial resources our research and development institutions and many of the agencies of government have been committed in the continuing development production and deployment of rocket powered weapons systems considered vital to our national defense. The impetus of this gigantic effort has transformed some of our older industries. New industries have sprung up overnight. To feed back into civilian industry has been far reaching indeed. Advances in data processing techniques and computer applications. The automatic control of machines that. Gauges their products

as they produce them. Rapid progress in electronics nuclear Onyx chemicals plastics ceramics and metal. All can be credited to the influence of these varied and advancing defense programs. One must of course on the other hand point to some less desirable byproduct. For example we are challenged by the fact of technological unemployment. Which is a sobering contradiction begging for solution. In an era of expanding industrial activity and booming prosperity. The dislocation of families and of communities resulting from the shifting of industrial complexes as work to extreme hardship. Major portions of the national economy are related to natural raw materials have been adversely affected by the availability of sin that inevitably most of our industry has become more technologically dependent.

There is a critical and increasing shortage of well-trained engineers and particularly technicians to meet the industrial requirements. A large part of the workforce now requires technical preparation. If we are to achieve the flexibility essential to the handling of new processes. Already occasional system has come under sharp attack for its failure to anticipate this fluid situation and to adapt its offerings to meet that situation. Apparently somewhere we lost sight of the fact that education is not preparation for today but preparation for tomorrow. Unless our institutions of learning can train our youth for the kind of world in which they will live 5 10 or 15 years from now they have not fulfilled their obligations. For the human race to progress each generation must as a minimum be able to start at a level of total knowledge

higher than that upon which the preceding generation built its life. The accumulated volume of knowledge has now reached such proportion that if the next generation is to start off further up the scale than did my generation. We must find a means to impart more information. During the same number or almost the same number of preparatory years. I suggest that one part of the answer. Is to return to the home the responsibility for the kind of instruction which does not have to be done in formal classrooms and which can be provided by dedicated parents willing to serve their children and thus to serve the needs of the nation. The recent focusing of attention upon education in the scientific and engineering disciplines is a step in the right direction. We must however guard against possible imbalance in our total effort or the nation will also need men and women trained in other preparation. However. It is my sincere

opinion that the coming generation must have all. Had. A broader understanding of the basic principles of science and technology as a basis for survival. That requirement is equally as urgent as the need to produce more professional scientists and engineers. The influence of rocketry is the outstanding symbol at the moment the glamour boy of modern technology has been visibly felt in the arena of international politics. The legendary Demichelis and sword has been replaced by the giant missile poised on its launching pad behind the Iron Curtain. So we are told. While we can devoutly hope that it will never be fired in anger. We must be aware that it can travel thousands of miles in the space of minutes and strike targets in about the same amount of time that I should be talking to you. Maybe a little less.

The unconcealed threat of total devastation released without warning. Is a powerful tool to compel obese ins when in the hands of the unprincipled. I believe this audience can well understand that the competence which can build weapons of this type. Necessarily commands respect. These are mute evidences of a highly developed scientific and technological capability. It would be impossible to identify any area of human activity that has escaped the influence of the flashing progress of research investigation and applied technology. Examples can be cited endlessly in every field. Some of them adds up to that. We have come to a crossroads in history. It is the hour of decision for the American people. They must decide whether they will go forward to greater accomplishments. Not without sacrifice. Or cast aside the mantle of leadership and

choose the easier way to oblivion. There is no time for extended deliberation. The march of events has brought revolutionary changes in the economy and in the social order. Vast numbers of people in many lands. Look to us to manifest our supremacy in the same and light and an unselfish manner in which we are by which we originally gained their respect. And. If not the affection of mankind. They would judge us by our achievements. Rather than by our promises. By our resourcefulness and courage. And not by our piously expressed hopes by our determination. And not by our hesitancy. They are aware as we should be. That an alien philosophy. A thesis for a living which is entirely repugnant to all of our fundamental beliefs. I set out to wrest the leadership of the world and the domination of the world from our

hands and to assume that domination. This is the ominous external challenge that permits no delay. To deal with it. We must find a way to convince others. That the free way of life. Is Superior not just easier. The challenge is to demonstrate that a system of government of the people by the people and for the people. Can through its own initiative and that of the people capitalize the assets of a free society. Not only to offset but to surpass the accomplishments of any dictatorial and monolithic form of government. If we fail to win that struggle. For the hearts and the minds of men. We will surrender not only the earth but the universe to international communism. We will also lose all of our cherished freedoms in the process. I am impelled to state that the lessons of the past and the warnings of the present have so far

failed completely to arouse our people to the challenge of our time. They seemed to be so and chatted with the visible abundance of our greatness. That they had been persuaded to disregard the presence of a rival idiology fostering broad capabilities for but one element purpose the destruction of our way of life. Apparently they have become so convinced of our invulnerability that they regard the game as little more than an over publicized contest between rival missile teams. They do not realize the stakes for which we are competing. It would be much more enjoyable I realize if I gave you unlimited reassurances and if I talked in terms only of a roseate future. A tomorrow that is in which the specter of wanton war would vanish forever and we could progress on our own terms and at our own pace. On the contrary I believe that we must talk plainly. Else we shall have come to it tomorrow when we will not have the right

to speak. Here that other broad outlines of the future that we must anticipate. Change brought about by invention will become the dominant factor of existence. It will not follow an orderly and evolutionary pattern. Instead it will be dynamic. Violent and often explosive. Man will be confronted by new demands and by unique pressure he will be exposed to his strange ideologies and have prophecies spawned by the technological revolution. The adventures and the opportunities awaiting you can be endured and overcome. Only by those who are fully prepared mentally morally and physically to cope with on knowns beyond our present earthbound imagination. Unless you possess a firm foundation in character and intellect you will drift aimlessly buffeted by circumstances and forces that you

cannot understand or can troll and desiring to put your heads under the rug and not look out. Our tradition limited minds cannot foresee the pitfalls and the rewards which lie ahead. It is a major concern that a gap exists and threatens to become wider. Between the capabilities of human understanding. And the rapidly increasing volume of scientific knowledge. The future of civilization may well depend upon how quickly we can close that gap. Not the missile gap. Not by shutting off the flow of knowledge. But by enhancing our ability to comprehend. And to use knowledge wisely scientific effort must be encouraged to expand. The advent of the technological revolution was made possible by the enormous amount of basic research carried on over the course of the last 50 to 100 years. The greater the star of knowledge the faster becomes the rate of progress. If we have enough

competent scientists and engineers to exploit the discoveries. The fact is we do not now have them and we are not training them in numbers sufficient to our need. To predict the future direction of research. As another way in which to determine the challenges of the Space Age is a task that makes the uncertainties of weather prediction seem like child's play. I'm aware that there are individuals who believe that in the act of pushing the front doors of knowledge beyond the limits of our world. We are challenging the will of God. Still others believe the pursuit of science as an objective is in itself incompatible with religion. These beliefs I most emphatically do not. The Christian religion was the foundation of our society. It is the vital foundation of our national morality. Without it. The world would be no more safe with advanced scientific developments in our human hands than it would be were our enemies to achieve total

supremacy in these fields. We know this is true. But we seldom realize is that the reason it is true is that our country is rooted in the moral standards of Christianity. We must therefore refuse to accept anything that denies the actuality of that religion. Not only is science compatible with religion but in fact the further one pursues it the more certain becomes the conviction that there is a divine intelligence and there is a perfect plan. Faith is the single. Supreme ingredient of both science and religion. The scientist must have absolute faith in the permanence and the immutability of the physical laws that influences work. In that very expression of faith as he searches out final truth. He unconsciously states his confidence in the existence of Divine Wisdom. Jesus said seek the truth and it shall make the freight. That is the way of science and that must be our way.

Not only can we pursue knowledge without violating fundamental precepts but if we are to retain the power to influence the world for good we must push ahead in these fields with the assurance bar never religious conviction and finally let me say to you that freedom is not a right. It is not a permanent and Dolman if any of our people are unwilling to pay. Each year the price of the lease even action is a certainty. This then is the age of space as it is seen by Major General John beam a DeRose former chief of the United States Army Ordnance Missile Command. One of the men who has already come actively to grips with the problems of this age with its promises and its puzzlements until recently such men have been relatively few in number for vital concern with the progress of the Space Age

has rested mainly with our military leaders with our scientific and engineering specialists. But there is common and kindled awareness and extension of involvement and concern and this is affirmed by Dr. Venter found Brown one of the world's pioneering leaders in space engineering. The immense challenge of outer space which was once the province only of astronomers and a few scientists working in fields related to us trying to me has caught the imagination of mankind. What was it once and attainable beyond. Has become an area. For human exploration. The question is no longer. How to get there. Rather it is who will get there first. When will it happen. And what practical purpose will it serve.

There are plain signs then you know what our leaders say that over the threshold is not far enough. Those who have hastened on ahead are urging us to step firmly in behind them to fortify the first 10 US probings with the substance of survival such imperatives echoing the remarks of Dr. T Keith Glenn and administrator of our National Aeronautics and Space Administration Mark Twain speaking to a boat captain on the Mississippi he made this statement when steam boats were about to come in when it steamboat time. You steam boat. This is space time and we must seize this opportunity to regain and to continue to exert leadership in the many fields of science and technology that are involved. Nor should we struggle along the raw and promising paths of outer space and self contained self seeking little banns man extending his physical presence into this formless Dominion must take with him the forms of responsible government but forms cast in new molds of

far greater magnitude to match the heroic dimensions of the space age to be aware of the age of space as a truly new age is to sharpen our realisation of the new developments it holds in store already germinating in its most specialized processes. Our promises for our future welfare promises supported by Dr. Hubertus Strughold professor of space medicine. There is no question. That space medicine will not only make its contribution. Towards any allegation of its proper grown. Namely manned space flight. But. Also be of benefit. To medicine and biology on ass in general. That means there will be benefit. To all mankind impacts upon the physical facts of man's existence. Yes there are plenty of these to be discerned in the unfolding

dimensions of the age of space. But what are the implications for man's mind and his soul. Dr. Reinhold neighbor of Union Theological Seminary one of our foremost contemporary philosophers has this to say. Why has religion maintain some kind of vitality even about the Advancement of Science and my answer would be there is no way of scientifically or rationally fitting man into a rational or natural scheme of things because that is go away that is Mrs. RAY. That he can conquer space but he can conquer him so these are some of the things which the age of space implies for our no longer earth centered lives touched upon briefly by Dr. Venter found Dr. Tiki Glennon Doctor Who Berta struggled and Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr. These Special Topics will be discussed at greater length in the programs to come. Our thanks to these gentlemen and to Major General John Beamer DeRose former chief of

the United States Army Ordnance Missile Command who earlier in today's broadcast gave us his comprehensive evaluation of the implications of space. This is the first program in a series of commentaries and discussions by space authorities and professional leaders aimed at assessing the dimensions of a new age space medicine may mean progress in medical welfare for all of us. Please tune in at this same time next week when Dr. George R. Stein camp Air Force medically is on officer for the Federal Aviation Agency and Doctor Who Barrow Strughold professor of space medicine for the Air Force Aerospace Medical Center. Comment on the medical aspects of the space age. These programs were produced and directed by Roderick the Reich miner who serves as moderator. Coordinator in right here and there I did a bunch of. The series was under the supervision of Robert have shaken him are I speaking.

Dimensions of a new age was produced and recorded by radio television. The University of Texas under a grant from the National Educational Television and Radio Center in cooperation with the National Association of educational broadcast. This is the n ABC Radio Network.