Letter from Thomas Gold to Dr John S Nisbet, Ionosphere Research Laboratory, College of Engineering, 318 Electrical Engineering East, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania Thanks him for his kind letter, Is glad to hear that Arecibo has served Nisbet and his group well in the past, and hoeps they will continue to do so in the future. If they have to abandon some Cornell lines of work it is indeed only as a result of a very severe budgetary situation in which not everything can be supported. Assures Nisbet there is no value judgement invovled as to whether the ionosphere is more or less important than pulsars or the planets. They are down in each case to the minimum staff necessaary to maintain the knowledge of how to use the instrument in each area. 27 January 1971