Quantum Leap1989

[Dr. Ashton has discovered that Dr. Winger is performing head impact research on chimps]

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
How many chimps have you killed testing helmets?

Dr. Frank Winger:
Doctor, do you know how many test pilots we lost at Edwards?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
No.

Dr. Frank Winger:
One in four. If there'd been better helmets and protective equipment, maybe some of those men might be alive today. And besides, what are you getting on me for? You test chimps.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
The chimp research in Project Mercury is not lethal.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, how do you know they won't die of G forces or, or burn up on re-entry?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
We don't know for sure, but we're doing our best to insure their safety.

Dr. Frank Winger:
To insure the safety of the astronauts.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
Right.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, that's what I'm trying to do for the pilots.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
But bashing chimps and trying to extrapolate to humans won't show you anything. In the Cameroons, I saw chimps fall from over fifty feet from trees, land on their heads and walk away. A man could die falling off a six-foot ladder.

Dr. Frank Winger:
The neurological structure of a chimp's brain is just a miniature version of a human's.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
But the frontal supraorbital ridges of his skull are two times thicker than ours. If you want to study human head trauma, study it in a human.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, that would be irresponsible.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
Oh, and it's not irresponsible to kill a chimp?

Dr. Frank Winger:
Doctor, you're getting very emotional here.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
No, Doctor, I'm being rational and scientific.

Dr. Frank Winger:
'Doctor', is that an MD or is that a vet's degree?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
I got my degree from the Royal Veterinary College and my PhD in animal behavior from London University.

Dr. Frank Winger:
And mine is an MD with eight years of training at Harvard, specializing in neurology. I know neurotrauma.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
And I know chimpanzees.