Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-12-24
ADMIRAL BYRD
TELLS WHY
Continued from poss six

But ne Is great executive. calmly,
quietly, without fluster or buster, he
handles the thousands of details on
which the lives and successful scien-
tific operations OF many men depend
when they have cut themselves off
from the rest of the world. Every
. added scientific objective means many
new details to be worked out - new
plans for field trips, new items of
equipment, new problems Of coTela-
ton. new safeguards and provisions
for rescue. Yes, it would certainly be a
lot easier just to 60 adventuring.
But that wouldn't accomplish much.
And: There is no part of this earth
about which SO little is known as
Antarctica," Byrd pointed out to me.
Think of the time and money spent
on studying Mars and other distant
planets - several million dollars to
build a telescope. Isn't it just common
sense that study of our own earth
can be even more worth while?"
Byrd's earlier expeditions, Lincoln
'Ellsworth's expeditions. the expedi-
tons of men of other countries, have
brought back smatterings of informa-
ton. But Antarctica is still almost
virgin territory for scientific fact
finders. That is why the personnel OF
the current expedition includes geog-
-rapher. physiologist, four biologists,
four biologists and glaciologlsts. two
meteorologists. two physicists. three
surveyors. two physicians and two
assistant scientists.
Admiral Byrd showed me list Of
the scientific reports that resulted from
his last expedition - sixty-six reports
to date. IT'S pretty hard to interest
the public in this sort of thing he
said could we'll understand that,
after glancing at the titles. On the face
Of 1t. there doesn't seem to be much
connection between The Petrologlc
and Structural Relations of the Edsel
Ford Range to other Antarctic Noun
tains" and the everyday life of Joe
Zilch of the u S. A.
But science often works in devious
ways its wonders to perform. Byrd
believes, as the scientists do - and as
most of us do, when we stop to think
about it - that knowledge itself is
more important than its immediate
application Suppose, he said in H.
lustraton Benjamin Franklin had
been asked lust what practical results
his experiments with a kite would
have In his widest enthusiasm he
couldn't have imagined a tenth of the
marvels of electricity that we accept
as commonplace today
Byrd admits tina, he doesn't know
exactly what it is going to mean to us
to have proof that the antarctic was
once blooming, tropical land; but
he is sure it is an important piece of
scientific knowledge 1t is just one of
the scraps Of information learned by
scientists OF earlier expeditions. One
proof Of it was the discovery of coal.
Men with All eye to business pricked
up their ears when they heard about
that. To them it suggested possible
new source of fuel. That, it seems. is
quite unlikely, at least in the near
future, both because the coal is Of an
inferior quality and because of the diff
fculties of mining and transporting it,
But the electricity that Franklin cap
tured wasn't of much immediate use,
either" Byrd pointed out. ut was
what it meant that was important"
The scientists who are with Byrd
take it for granted that most of their
findings will be of the sort that can't
Immediately be fitted into their proper
places in the picture puzzle of our ad-
vancing civilization. The biologists.
for instance, look at you blankly -
perhaps pityingly would describe it
better - if you ask what practical use
will be made of their researches. But
when released from that question, they