WEBVTT 00:00:00.740 --> 00:00:04.660 - September 12, 1962. John F. Kennedy - 00:00:05.653 --> 00:00:08.461 "We meet in an hour of change and challenge, 00:00:09.351 --> 00:00:12.323 in an age of both knowledge and ignorance. 00:00:12.603 --> 00:00:15.460 The greater our knowledge increases, 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:17.613 the greater our ignorance unfolds. 00:00:18.033 --> 00:00:20.763 Our leadership in science and in industry, 00:00:20.763 --> 00:00:24.316 our hopes for peace and security, 00:00:24.316 --> 00:00:28.250 our obligations to ourselves as well as others, 00:00:28.250 --> 00:00:33.470 all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, 00:00:33.470 --> 00:00:35.950 to solve them for the good of all men. 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:39.540 We set sail on this new sea 00:00:39.540 --> 00:00:45.153 because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, 00:00:45.153 --> 00:00:49.696 and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. 00:00:50.606 --> 00:00:55.180 For science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. 00:00:55.890 --> 00:01:00.621 Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.240 Why, some say, the moon? 00:01:13.240 --> 00:01:16.227 Why choose this as our goal? 00:01:16.227 --> 00:01:20.727 And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? 00:01:20.727 --> 00:01:23.727 Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? 00:01:23.727 --> 00:01:26.727 Why does Rice play Texas? 00:01:26.727 --> 00:01:29.727 We choose to go to the moon. 00:01:30.077 --> 00:01:33.284 We choose to go to the moon... 00:01:38.024 --> 00:01:42.322 We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, 00:01:42.322 --> 00:01:46.071 not because they are easy, but because they are hard, 00:01:46.071 --> 00:01:53.461 because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, 00:01:53.461 --> 00:01:57.301 because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, 00:01:57.301 --> 00:02:00.281 one we are unwilling to postpone, 00:02:00.281 --> 00:02:02.737 and one which we intend to win." 00:02:06.107 --> 00:02:08.558 - February 19, 2013. Professor Brian Cox - 00:02:08.885 --> 00:02:11.987 I want to hear someone stand up and say: " We choose." 00:02:12.585 --> 00:02:16.530 "We choose to make Britain the best place in the world to do science. 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:22.777 Before this decade is out we will ensure that every citizen has a right to a university level education 00:02:22.777 --> 00:02:25.427 irrespective of age or socio-economic background, 00:02:25.427 --> 00:02:29.256 whether that’s in the sciences, engineering or arts. 00:02:29.256 --> 00:02:34.048 We will double our spending on university and tertiary education. 00:02:34.048 --> 00:02:35.380 Why? 00:02:35.380 --> 00:02:40.681 Because I believe that higher education is valuable to both the individual and to society. 00:02:40.681 --> 00:02:45.120 In my Utopia every citizen will have the opportunity to leave home, 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.580 their hometown and be exposed to ideas. 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:49.612 The environment of the university. 00:02:49.612 --> 00:02:51.587 Societies built on individuals. 00:02:51.587 --> 00:02:56.270 Imagine a Britain in which everyone you meet knows at least something of Plato, 00:02:56.270 --> 00:02:58.303 of Bach, of Picasso, of Newton, 00:02:58.303 --> 00:03:01.510 of Einstein, of Curie, of Archimedes, 00:03:01.510 --> 00:03:05.816 of Brunel, of Amis, of Mahler, of Mailer, of Dylan, of Lennon, 00:03:05.816 --> 00:03:11.662 of Feynman, of Sagan, of Armstrong & Aldrin, of Bronowski, of Davy and of Faraday. 00:03:11.802 --> 00:03:14.580 And further, We will double the spending on research, 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:18.023 and introduce measures to make it attractive for industry to do the same, 00:03:18.023 --> 00:03:21.060 exceeding the investment in our competitor nations. 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:22.129 Why? 00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:24.676 Because reaching for worlds beyond our grasp 00:03:24.676 --> 00:03:29.391 is an essential driver for progress and necessary sustenance for human spirit. 00:03:29.391 --> 00:03:35.310 If we denay this innate and powerful urge, the borders of our intellectual domain will shrink with our ambition. 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:39.091 We are the most rare and valuable part of the universe: a civilization. 00:03:39.091 --> 00:03:44.857 And our long term survival depends solely upon our understanding of nature. 00:03:44.857 --> 00:03:48.851 We will join with our colleagues in Europe, Russia, The United States and China 00:03:48.851 --> 00:03:52.409 to redirect defense spending into the exploration of space 00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:56.066 to protect our planet from threats, mine asteroids for resources 00:03:56.066 --> 00:04:00.310 and expand the frontiers of our civilization for the first time since Columbus. 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:04.013 The citizens of our world, one amongst billions in the cosmos 00:04:04.013 --> 00:04:09.341 will come together with the goal of expanding our understanding of nature for the good of all mankind. 00:04:09.341 --> 00:04:12.919 Today we take our first steps on our journey to the stars." 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:16.111 Thank you very much. …I would vote for that! 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:31.046 But let me leave you with this. There is a great quote form the great Chemist Humphry Davy. 00:04:31.046 --> 00:04:35.283 He said when asked about the value of science. He didn't give the economic argument, 00:04:35.283 --> 00:04:37.162 he gave a wonderful quote. 00:04:37.162 --> 00:04:40.335 What he said was this, He said: "Why do we do science? 00:04:40.382 --> 00:04:46.273 Nothing is more fatal to the progress of the human mind than to presume that our views of science are ultimate, 00:04:46.273 --> 00:04:47.951 that our triumphs are complete, 00:04:47.951 --> 00:04:53.391 that they are no mysteries in Nature, and that they are no new worlds to conquer." 00:05:23.837 --> 00:05:26.389 "Science is about exploring, 00:05:26.389 --> 00:05:32.847 and the only way to uncover the secrets of the universe is to go and look."