Space for Thought
Sir:
Your Science article "Life on a Billion Planets" [March 3], is plain horse sense. Who the hell are we (on this planet) to believe we are the only humans in all the cosmic world? Astronomer Struve says: "It is perfectly conceivable that some intelligent race meddled once too often with nuclear laws and blew themselves to bits." This is just about what may hit us—if we keep monkeying around with nuclear fission.
VINCENT V. DANIELS Rutland Heights, Mass.
Sir:
Our earth is at least 2 billion years old; records have been preserved from only a few thousand years. It is therefore theoretically possible that inhabitants of other planets did visit our earth.
K. KAUFFMANN-GRINSTEAD Hot Springs National Park, Ark.
Sir:
As to the question of interplanetary communication, isn't it possible that if the universe, as we know it, developed its galaxies simultaneously, the intelligence of other planetary beings would parallel our own?
R. REAGAN SOULE Berkeley, Calif.
The Washington Fellers
Sir:
Surely most Americans prefer a Republican peace "recession" to a Democratic war "prosperity." Or have we forgotten that every major war in this century occurred under Democratic "leadership"?
CARROLL WILLIS Wichita, Kans.
Sir:
Your recent snide remarks about Ike's "vacations" are in poor taste. As Uncle Lem over in Vermont said: "When I go to Florida, I don't take the cows with me, and I can forget all about the chores. That feller in Washington can't seem to ever be able to do likewise."
R. H. MORSE Concord, N.H.
Sir:
Why all the "persecution" of the President ? Can't a great man relax without being jabbed at? Put away the whips, boys, and have no more of these demoralizing articles.
IRENE S. WINGER Bayside, N.Y.
Sir:
Regarding the FCC and Richie Mack story [March 10]: One might think that Truman was still in the White House.
HAROLD S. BRANCHE Watertown, N.Y.
Sex & Enjoyment
Sir:
Your March 10 criticism of the Reader's Digest articles on sex is annoyingly typical of the adolescent leer with which your editors approach the subject.
E. C. MULLINS Chicago
Sir:
TIME'S delightful rendition of Dr. Marion Hilliard's rarefied prose concerning the complexities of the intimate life reminded me of the story about a rural child-well-informed on such matters-who one day in early spring announced, "Our cat just had kittens, the cows are coming in fresh and Mommy is going to have a baby, but the pussy willows ain't done a thing yet."
ELIZABETH R. HILDRETH Philadelphia
Sir:
European women might cooperate a little more than our American women, however, most of the writers like Marion Hilliard and Dr. David Mace are bestseller-conscious and do not necessarily spend their lives researching in the field of mental health and sexology. I have spent 30 years of my life in this field of research and I wouldn't dare say I could teach humans how to enjoy their sex life.
ARTHUR GUY MATHEWS Little Neck, N.Y.