Murdoch looked at Harrison and smiled tolerantly.
"Since Mr. Barden is not independently wealthy he could hardly have made any experiments," said Murdoch.
Dr. Hansen looked at Barden and said: "I believe that you have stumbled upon this line of reasoning by sheer accident and so firm is your belief in it that you are making an attempt to have it tried?"
Barden smiled. "That is exactly right," he said earnestly.
"I do admire the semantic reasoning," said Hansen. "I am admittedly skeptical of the premise. Dr. Jones, you represent the Space Laboratory. This seems to be right in your department. What is your opinion?"
"If his theory is correct, great returns are obvious. However, I am inclined to view the idea as a matter of sophistic reasoning."
Barden hastened to get Dr, Jones' attention. "Look, sir. The same relegation of a theory to sophistic reasoning has happened before. Admittedly this is a new science. So have been several others. Someone must discover them in one way or another. The entire science of electronics was discovered in this way—Maxwell formulated the electromagnetic equations. Hertz made the initial experiments many years later. Marconi reduced them to practice, and then a horde of others came forth with their own contributions. Yet the vast technical holdings throughout the electronic field were initially based upon the mathematical predictions made by Maxwell."
"You seem well trained in logic and reasoning," smiled Hansen. "That was a rather sharp parallel. Yet you must understand our feelings in the matter. First, Maxwell was an accredited scientist before he formulated the famous Equations. Now if—and remember that big if—if this is a truly parallel case, we'd all like nothing better than to give you the acclaim you deserve. On the other hand, you expect us to foster you in your attempt to have millions spent on the experimentation you outline so logically. You must remember, Mr. Barden, that despite the fact that we, none of us, will have a prime function in the disbursement of any funds, we are none the less a primely responsible body. The fact that we permit you to speak will carry much weight. It will be a recommendation by us to the rest of the members. As such we must be cautious."
"Is there no way for an unknown man to make a contribution to science?" asked Barden.