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General discussion

What exactly is a rocket scientist?

Oct 6, 2008 11:30AM PDT

I've been asked a bunch of times "who/what is a rocket scientist?" I've considered myself to be one because I studied aeronautical/astronautical engineering in college (B.S.; my M.S. focused on space systems functional design more than physics equations, though.) and that's probably as close as you can get through the formal education route (well, you could get a related Ph.D., lead a research design/testing team, etc.). But there isn't *exactly* anyone with an official title "Rocket Scientist". Why? well, take a look at the following links.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080628144709AA2InMQ

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/rocket-scientist-20060818-transcipt.html
(audio) http://www.nasa.gov/mp3/154912main_rocket-scientist-20060817.mp3
excerpt:
*****
Narrator: How to Build a Rocket Scientist. I'm JP and you're listening to a podcast from JPL - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. First of all, what exactly is a rocket scientist?

People on the street: A rocket scientist? Somebody who works on rockets, sends them to Mars and wherever. Someone who builds rockets as a hobby and for work. NASA. Um, just someone that's really smart. Somebody who is really bright and kinda out there, (laughter).

Narrator: It might surprise you to learn that there really is no such thing as a rocket scientist. There are rocket engineers, and there are scientists. But since everyone knows the term rocket scientist, we'll go ahead and use it generically. We're going to talk with a JPL rocket scientist, two student rocket scientists under construction, and we'll find out how JPL's education office can help parents and teachers build their own rocket scientists.
*****

Without consulting Wikipedia, etc. here's my take:
I guess a "Rocket Scientist" is a compliment that came about when a lot of Americans really admired and were excited by the educated folks who were involved in the space race during the cold war - mostly guys like Wernher von Braun and his associates. Science advancements were huge then and folks many scientists were considered national heroes similar to how many think of Dean Kamen, Steve Jobs, etc. these days. Put the two words together and you've got a new term for the new category of heroes.

Interestingly enough, a compliment amongst those at NASA would be something like,"You were real steely-eyed missle man on that one!" - which generally refers more to "rubber meets the road" mission operations while "rocket scientist" refers more to the design and analysis.

Anyway, with all the talk about mathematicians, physicists, and rocket scientists in the financial world these days...I thought I'd straighten out some misconceptions.

so...just wondering - what do you or did you think a rocket scientist was anyhow?

Best,
Shalin

Discussion is locked

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oh..and...well, I worked for the space program so...
Oct 6, 2008 11:31AM PDT

oh..and...well, I worked for the space program so that would count for me too I guess Wink

Best,
Shalin

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Rocket Scientist
Oct 7, 2008 5:26AM PDT

Here is my take. 100% off the cuff.

Back during the WWII era there really was such a thing as a rocket scientist. Smart dudes trying to perfect rockets to be used as weapons and later as our launch platform for space exploration. At first it was a few brilliant guys. Pioneers in the field. They were "The Rocket Scientists", even some were actually engineers. After WWII we impoted a buch of Rocket Scientists from Germany. The public picked up on the name as the epitome of smart. From there it hit pop culture and Rocket Scientist became another way to say "smart" rather like Braniac.


As an aside building rockets seems to be harder than nukes. There are more nations with nukes than the rockets to delivery them whever they may need to go.

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(NT) Good point - early on, the scientists figure things out...
Oct 7, 2008 10:02PM PDT
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What exactly is a rocket scientist?
Oct 7, 2008 7:16AM PDT

Isn't it a person who works with NASA and JPL who has a degree in it.

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Scientists vs. Engineers
Oct 7, 2008 2:35PM PDT

You are right. I tend to think of engineers like you when I think of modern-day "rocket scientists". There were also a few physicists whose slide rules paved the way for you engineers to come traipsing in with your chewing gum, duct tape, gunpowder, and twine. Happy

Perhaps the root question is, "what's the difference between a scientist and an engineer?"

An anecdote about legendary inventor Thomas Edison clarified the answer for me. Edison, a career telegraph operator, once asked a young lab assistant with a degree in physics to find the volume of an irregularly-shaped glass bulb. Honored by the challenge of such difficult spacial geometry, the assistant pulled out his calipers and pencil. Several calculus-filled hours and notebooks later, the assistant began waving paper and shouting a number. Edison swore, grabbed the bulb, filled it with water, poured it into a graduated cylinder, and threatened to fire the assistant if he was ever caught wasting so much time again. The lab assistant was more of a scientist, while Edison was more of an engineer.

A self-described "technologist" once put it to me another way. The scientist studies it. The mathematician measures it. The engineer builds it. The technologist puts it to work so that the suits can take the money and the bows.

So much for the differences. What are the similarities among engineers, mathematicians, scientists, and technologists?

In a word? "Nerd."

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Scientist vs. Engineer
Oct 8, 2008 5:18AM PDT

Scientists tend to focus on research. Engineers tend to focus on building practical things. Those descriptions are broad brush, but will work for the most part.
That said, in trying to build things Engineers often cross over into the Scientific world as they tackle problems that get in the way of solving the problems they are working on. They can and do advance the body of scientific knowledge.
Meanwhile Scientists often run into roadblocks and are forced to engineer solutions to problems to further advance their research efforts.
Engineers and Scientists are different professions that cross over quite a bit at times.

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Perecption.
Oct 8, 2008 7:20AM PDT

Where I started in engineering the engineering students had groupies. Even the drama and communications majors liked being with the engineers. Where I finished, the engineering students ran around worrying about being dorks. I could only laugh. My attitude about being an engineer was set by the first school.

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What is a rocket scientist?
Jun 20, 2015 4:01PM PDT

A rocket scientist is simply someone who has the skills and determination to build and launch a rocket with full recovery. Rocketscientist.com.au has the story of my husband and his journey to launch his friends ashes. He became a rocket scientist by necessity. It wasn't brain surgery! Happy

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Rocket scientist.
Jul 13, 2015 2:23AM PDT

Rocket scientists are plane design specialists who work in the outline and assembling of rocket. They work with the standards of science and designing to make vehicles that fly inside or over the Earth's climate.