PROFESSOR BRIAN COX - We Choose

- September 12, 1962. John F. Kennedy -

"We meet in an hour of change and challenge,

in an age of both knowledge and ignorance.

The greater our knowledge increases,

the greater our ignorance unfolds.

Our leadership in science and in industry,

our hopes for peace and security,

our obligations to ourselves as well as others,

all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries,

to solve them for the good of all men.

We set sail on this new sea

because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won,

and they must be won and used for the progress of all people.

For science and all technology, has no conscience of its own.

Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man.

Why, some say, the moon?

Why choose this as our goal?

And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain?

Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?

Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon...

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy, but because they are hard,

because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills,

because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept,

one we are unwilling to postpone,

and one which we intend to win."

- February 19, 2013. Professor Brian Cox -

I want to hear someone stand up and say: " We choose."

"We choose to make Britain the best place in the world to do science.

Before this decade is out we will ensure that every citizen has a right to a university level education

irrespective of age or socio-economic background,

whether that’s in the sciences, engineering or arts.

We will double our spending on university and tertiary education.

Why?

Because I believe that higher education is valuable to both the individual and to society.

In my Utopia every citizen will have the opportunity to leave home,

their hometown and be exposed to ideas.

The environment of the university.

Societies built on individuals.

Imagine a Britain in which everyone you meet knows at least something of Plato,

of Bach, of Picasso, of Newton,

of Einstein, of Curie, of Archimedes,

of Brunel, of Amis, of Mahler, of Mailer, of Dylan, of Lennon,

of Feynman, of Sagan, of Armstrong & Aldrin, of Bronowski, of Davy and of Faraday.

And further, We will double the spending on research,

and introduce measures to make it attractive for industry to do the same,

exceeding the investment in our competitor nations.

Why?

Because reaching for worlds beyond our grasp

is an essential driver for progress and necessary sustenance for human spirit.

If we denay this innate and powerful urge, the borders of our intellectual domain will shrink with our ambition.

We are the most rare and valuable part of the universe: a civilization.

And our long term survival depends solely upon our understanding of nature.

We will join with our colleagues in Europe, Russia, The United States and China

to redirect defense spending into the exploration of space

to protect our planet from threats, mine asteroids for resources

and expand the frontiers of our civilization for the first time since Columbus.

The citizens of our world, one amongst billions in the cosmos

will come together with the goal of expanding our understanding of nature for the good of all mankind.

Today we take our first steps on our journey to the stars."

Thank you very much. …I would vote for that!

But let me leave you with this. There is a great quote form the great Chemist Humphry Davy.

He said when asked about the value of science. He didn't give the economic argument,

he gave a wonderful quote.

What he said was this, He said: "Why do we do science?

Nothing is more fatal to the progress of the human mind than to presume that our views of science are ultimate,

that our triumphs are complete,

that they are no mysteries in Nature, and that they are no new worlds to conquer."

"Science is about exploring,

and the only way to uncover the secrets of the universe is to go and look."