Letter: The quest for knowledge about our planet and its place in the universe

Sir: Lord Gladwyn is seriously wrong when he suggests that exploring the cosmos for possible other living planets is a waste of time. A lift to human imagination and vision is what the world desperately needs to raise it above the wretched squabbles and greed that corrupt current thinking and action.

When Neil Armstrong stepped on to the Moon in 1969, the world was, for a time, at one in awe and wonder. An awakened sense of cosmic involvement in unravelling the amazing conundrum that life is would give that sort of effect enduring power.

Yours faithfully,

JAMES HEMMING

Teddington, Middlesex

4 December