In his career, Elon Musk has built the habit of saying some very controversial statements. Sometimes, bordering on insulting and some just being straight up weird. This time, the world’s second-richest man decided to take a dig at rocket scientists.
To put it simply, Musk wants to discredit the term ‘Rocket scientist.’ In a series of two tweets posted on his Twitter, Musk went onto take a jab at members of the scientific community, when he implied that engineers are the ones solely responsible for human spaceflight.
His tweet read, “Science is discovering the essential truths about what exists in the Universe, engineering is about creating things that never existed.” He also added a link to a Wikipedia definition of ‘Engineer.’
Science is discovering the essential truths about what exists in the Universe, engineering is about creating things that never existedhttps://t.co/aIEUtHoPxM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2020
He went onto add that what people call science is technically, pure engineering, and that means there are no rocket scientists in the world, only rocket engineers. “Much of what people think of an science is actually engineering, eg no such thing as a “rocket scientist”, only rocket engineers. Latter is who put humans on the moon,” wrote Musk.
Much of what people think of an science is actually engineering, eg no such thing as a “rocket scientist”, only rocket engineers. Latter is who put humans on the moon.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2020
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Of course, the tweet don’t go down well with people who actually call themselves scientists for a living, and they soon expressed themselves on Twitter. Scroll through some below:
There’s plenty of basic science still happening related to rocketry—from fluid dynamics to materials to propulsion. These people just aren’t launching full scale systems 🚀
But Elon is correct that SpaceX is focused solely on engineering & making existing rocket science work https://t.co/Sfs3ROVDe5
— Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) December 2, 2020
I have a feeling this tweet is a subtle jab at the term “rocket scientist.” https://t.co/SHmUFsjIF5
— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) December 2, 2020
Hey @elonmusk
I know you are a billionaire, but you are wrong. Science is understanding how things work, the knowledge of its existence. Engineering is creating it, out of your understanding of science. You need knowledge, to create. A rocket engineer, need a rocket scientist https://t.co/ZJOxVKQuWp— OMONIAYANFE 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬 (@ayanfe29) December 2, 2020
But it is scientists who ponder the push and shove, describe the laws governing motion, derive the equations, and make it possible for engineers to solve problems like getting humans to the moon.
Kinda like standing on the shoulders of giants … https://t.co/LiIKsQWOp5
— Carolyn Porco (@carolynporco) December 2, 2020
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