William Happer

She called him Izzy, Isidore.

And he would tell her, and then she would say, and did you ask a good question today?

Yeah.

So he said she was really more interested in whether he had asked a good question, which would mean that the wheels were turning in his head than whether he had memorized something.

And I always took that to heart.

I think that was a very wise mother.

And he turned out very well as a result.

Well, this is an opportunity to put in a good word for Al Gore since he was an inventor of the internet.

Yeah, he did kind of take credit for part of that, right?

Right, yeah.

What did he say exactly?

I think he said, I had a hand in that or something like that.

I bought a computer once.

Yeah, let me add to that.

I think one of the great strengths of American science and technology over the last 50 years was that there was not a single funding agency in Washington.

But, you know, you could get funding from the National Science Foundation or you could get funding from the Office of Naval Research or from some other organization.

And they all competed with each other and they didn't like each other very much.

And so if you couldn't get a

Grant from NSF, someone would help you from the Army or some other place.

So I think multiple sources of funding has an enormously positive effect on the vitality of science and technology in a country.