Funds for Research
* I would like to suggest to David Goodstein that there is a way to forestall the coming Dark Age of research (Commentary, Aug. 31). Public support of science and technology has always been greatest when there are dragons to slay, as was the case with the Manhattan and Apollo projects. The superconducting super collider was canceled because its goal, to find the Higgs particle, was not seen to be of practical benefit.
Instead of concentrating on abstract research, the scientific and technological community might focus on a goal of immense practical significance that the taxpayers could wholeheartedly support. For almost half a century, physicists have been attempting to develop controlled thermonuclear fusion as a step toward its eventual exploitation as an economically competitive energy source. This is a problem of tremendous theoretical difficulty (and so can attract scientists), extreme technological complexity (and so can attract engineers), and awesome practical ramifications (and so can attract funding).
Considering the potential value of the development of controlled and economically competitive thermonuclear fusion, it would seem that there would be substantial support from the scientific and funding communities for such a project.
PROF. JAMES D. STEIN JR.
Department of Mathematics
Cal State Long Beach
* Currently, we spend more on health care in 10 days than we spend on research in an entire year. The mathematics of that equation show that only three cents of every health care dollar go to research. Does this make sense? In a recent Harris Poll commissioned by the not-for-profit advocacy group Research!America, nine out of every 10 Americans said this nation should spend more on medical research to better diagnose, prevent and treat disease, and two out of every three persons surveyed said medical research is the single most valuable type of scientific research.
Popular support from the general citizenry for medical research has been placed on the back shelf in the debate over health care reform. Medical research, not only because of its value to the economy but also for its value to human life, must be made a higher national priority. RICHARD N. LOLLEY
Associate Dean for Research
USC School of Medicine
