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Wernher von Braun

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Basic research is when I am doing what I don't know what I am doing.
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In an interview in the New York Times, 16 December 1957, cited in a footnote on page 32 of "Work, Society, and Culture" by Yves Reni Marie Simon, and also in a footnote (in German) on page 360 of "Vita activa oder Vom taetigen Leben" by Hannah Arend (1981) Variants: Basic research is when I'm doing what I don't know I'm doing. Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.

 
Wernher von Braun

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