A Belief May Be Larger Than A

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.

Science Has A Simple Faith, Which Transcends Utility. Nearly All Men Of Science, All Men Of Learning For That Matter, And Men Of Simple Ways Too, Have It In Some Form And In Some Degree. It Is The Faith That It Is The Privilege Of Man To Learn To Understand, And That This Is His Mission. If We Abandon That Mission Under Stress We Shall Abandon It Forever, For Stress Will Not Cease. Knowledge For The Sake Of Understanding, Not Merely To Prevail, That Is The Essence Of Our Being. None Can Define Its Limits, Or Set Its Ultimate Boundaries.

Science Has A Simple Faith, Which Transcends Utility... It Is The Faith That It Is The Privilege Of Man To Learn To Understand, And That This Is His Mission.

Consider A Future Device For Individual Use, Which Is A Sort Of Mechanized Private File And Library. It Needs A Name, And, To Coin One At Random, "memex" Will Do. A Memex Is A Device In Which An Individual Stores All His Books, Records, And Communications, And Which Is Mechanized So That It May Be Consulted With Exceeding Speed And Flexibility. It Is An Enlarged Intimate Supplement To His Memory.

Science Can Be Effective In The National Welfare Only As A Member Of A Team, Whether The Conditions Be Peace Or War. But Without Scientific Progress No Amount Of Achievement In Other Directions Can Insure Our Health, Prosperity, And Security As A Nation In The Modern World.