A Belief May Be Larger Than A

The Question Of Whether A Device Will Come Into Being Depends Upon Three Things: First, Whether There Is A Practical Use For It That Warrants Its Development And Manufacturing Costs; Second, Whether The Laws Of Physics Applying To The Elements Available For Its Design Allow The Attainment Of The Needed Ranges, Sensitivities, Or The Like; And Third, Whether The Pertinent Art Of Manufacture Has Advanced Sufficiently To Allow A Useful Embodiment To Be Built Successfully.

The Responsibility For The Creation Of New Scientific Knowledge - And For Most Of Its Application - Rests On That Small Body Of Men And Women Who Understand The Fundamental Laws Of Nature And Are Skilled In The Techniques Of Scientific Research. We Shall Have Rapid Or Slow Advance On Any Scientific Frontier Depending On The Number Of Highly Qualified And Trained Scientists Exploring It.

The Common Idea That Scientists Reject A Theory As Soon As It Leads To A Contradiction Is Just Not So. When They Get Something That Works At All They Plunge Ahead With It And Ignore Its Weak Spots... Scientists Are Just As Bad As The Rest Of The Public In Following Fads And Being Influenced By Mass Enthusiasm.

Wholly New Forms Of Encyclopedias Will Appear, Ready Made With A Mesh Of Associative Trails Running Through Them, Ready To Be Dropped Into The Memex And There Amplified.

Science Can Give Mankind A Better Standard Of Living, Better Health And A Better Mental Life, If Mankind In Turn Gives Science The Sympathy And Support So Essential To Its Progress.