Letters of Note

"Some of the reasons for exploring space, when there are numerous social problems on earth, were described recently by Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, Associate Director of Science at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville. His beliefs were expressed in his reply to a letter from Sister Mary Jucunda, O.P., a nun who works among starving natives of Zambia, Africa."

Source: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19730015241/downloads/19730015241.pdf#page=129

HTML: https://lettersofnote.com/2012/08/06/why-explore-space/

"Space flight, without any doubt, is playing exactly this role. The voyage to Mars will certainly not be a direct source of food for the hungry. However, it will lead to so many new technologies and capabilities that the spinoffs from this project alone will be worth many times the cost of its implementation."

> The other technique that we developed (which was devastatingly effective) was to distract the committee with issues that were irrelevant but amenable to debate.

It's not exactly the same but this reminds me of the way Matt Stone described his interactions with the MPAA board in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Film_Is_Not_Yet_Rated).

i.e. they went into the Team America rating negotiation with aggressive material they were prepared to cut, and probably wanted to cut anyway, and let the committee spend all their time on that.

See also (NSFW):

https://youtu.be/SgyG8y1vg1M?t=151

https://lettersofnote.com/2009/09/30/p-s-this-is-my-favorite-memo-ever/

The world and our lives are very interconnected. You can't just focus on a single task nor would that actually lead to any better progress.

I suggest you read this: https://lettersofnote.com/2012/08/06/why-explore-space/

> "In 1970, a Zambia-based nun named Sister Mary Jucunda wrote to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, then-associate director of science at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center ... Specifically, she asked how he could suggest spending billions of dollars on such a project at a time when so many children were starving on Earth. Stuhlinger soon sent the following letter of explanation ... later published by NASA, and titled, “Why Explore Space?”"

This reminds me of a letter that was written by a NASA engineer in the 1970s in response to a nun in Africa who was questioning the value of spending billions on space exploration.

> In 1970, a Zambia-based nun named Sister Mary Jucunda wrote to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, then-associate director of science at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, in response to his ongoing research into a piloted mission to Mars. Specifically, she asked how he could suggest spending billions of dollars on such a project at a time when so many children were starving on Earth.

The letter is well worth the read:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html

My favourite "oh, Babbage" story is his letter to Tennyson¹. It shares a lot in common with the linked noise nuisances, as he appears to genuinely want to improve society². It is just that is his manner leaves a lot to be desired.

I often try to think of him when I'm busily writing a code review or such, in an attempt to sound a little more pleasant. My admission is that is doesn't always work ;)

1. https://lettersofnote.com/2012/09/21/the-vision-of-sin/

2. Whether we agree about his poetry edits or silent streets being an improvement is a different point.

The website Ephemeral New York is terrific for all sorts of interesting New York history: https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com (the New Year's day post is where I found the reference to her diary)

And the Historical Atlas of New York City is both visually and textually superb for all sorts of fascinating details of New York's development: http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Atlas-New-York-City/dp/0805078428

Finally, "Letters of Note" has great finds from historical letters throughout history: http://www.lettersofnote.com/