September 24, 1985

To the Editor

The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

D Dr. Armand Hammer's suggestion (Op. Ed., September 22, 1985) that the US
share with the Soviet Union research and development on the Space Defense
{Initiative fs intriguing. I have the greatest fespect for my friend Dr. Hammer's
wisdom and political insight. The difficulty, however, concerns the nature

of the Space Defense Initiatéve igself.

Many scientists believe that the chance of the SDI proaram to succeed
at the technical level are vanishingly small. Moreover, much of the so-called
SDI research appears to be irrelevant to its stated purpose.

There is a widespread feeling among university scientists that the SDI
research program has another, more sinister effect, namely to tfe physical and
engineering research to the military establishment for one or several decades
to come.

Washington bureaucrats disposing of enormous sums (over four bt?1ion
dollars in the next two years, atlmost double the total NSF funds) are believed
to be soliciting proposals for miscellaneous research projects, even totally
irrelevant ones, which are then approved without peer review or sertous
critical scrutiny -- like the $600 toilet seats for the Air Force.

The corruption and undermining of American science and technology
that may result from such practices can be a greater threat to our future than
abandonment of the utopian space-based defense.

S.E. Luria, M.D.
Institute Professor (Emeritus)