President Pitzer, Mr. Vice President, Governor
Congressman Thomas,
Senator Wiley, and Congressman Miller,
Mr. Webb, Mr. Bell, scientists,
Distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen:
I appreciate your president having made me an honorary
Visiting professor,
And I will assure you that my first lecture will be very brief.
I am delighted to be here and I'm particularly delighted
To be here on this occasion.
We meet at a college noted for knowledge,
In a city noted for progress, in a State noted for strength,
And we stand in need of all three,
For we meet in an hour of change and challenge,
In a decade of hope and fear, in an age of both
Knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases,
The greater our ignorance unfolds.
Despite the striking fact that most of the scientists
That the world has ever known are alive and working today,
Despite the fact that this Nation's own scientific manpower is
Doubling every 12 years in a rate of growth more than
Three times that of our population as a whole,
Despite that, the vast stretches of the unknown
And the unanswered and the unfinished still
Far outstrip our collective comprehension.
No man can fully grasp how far and how fast we have come
But condense, if you will, the 50,000 years of man¹s
Recorded history in a time span of but a half a century.
Stated in these terms, we know very little
About the first 40 years, except at the end of them
Advanced man had learned to use the skins of
Animals to cover them. Then about 10 years ago,
Under this standard, man emerged from his caves
To construct other kinds of shelter. Only five years
Ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels
Christianity began less than two years ago
The printing press came this year, and then less
Than two months ago, during this whole 50-year
Span of human history, the steam engine
Provided a new source of power.
Newton explored the meaning of gravity. Last month
Electric lights and telephones and automobiles
And airplanes became available. Only last week
Did we develop penicillin and television and
Nuclear power, and now if America¹s new
Spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we
Will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight.
This is a breathtaking pace, and such a pace cannot
Help but create new ills as it dispels old, new
Ignorance, new problems, new dangers. Surely
The opening vistas of space promise high costs
And hardships, as well as high reward.
So it is not surprising that some would have us
Stay where we are a little longer to rest, to wait.
But this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this
Country of the United States was not built by
Those who waited and rested and wished to look
Behind them. This country was conquered by
Those who moved forward--and so will space.