Another day, another controversial Elon Musk tweet.
Tesla CEO and head of SpaceX, Elon Musk is known for being an 'eccentric genuis.' He sent the first commercially owned spaceflight to the International Space Center. He set up Internet in the skies with Starlink. He named his newborn baby a series of roman numerals. He wants to colonize Mars.
And now, he wants to discredit the term 'Rocket scientist.'
In a series of two tweets posted on his Twitter, Musk explained what can only be constituted as a 'diss' to scientists, implying that engineers are the ones solely responsible for human spaceflight.
"Science is discovering the essential truths about what exists in the Universe, engineering is about creating things that never existed," he wrote, adding 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 further went on to add "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."
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
While Musk didn't offer proper definition of who 'They' were, and anything besides a crowd-sourced link, the jab didn't go down very well in the scientific community.
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
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
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
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
Elon Musk, however, isn't wrong. Well, not completely. Science and engineering, especially when it comes to space, kind of go hand-in-hand. Engineers build the rockets, build the infrastructure to get you to the moon: But what about the theories and the discoveries which led them there? Engineering didn't make the discoveries, didn't figure out how to take them forward to lead them into an actual innovation.
Science and engineering is a collaborative process, and while Musk's shoutout to engineers and recognizing them is great, it comes at a cost of explaining how 'This ain't it' to science, when they really do deserve the credit they are given.
Musk may have tipped the scales in favor of one, perhaps because of what SpaceX does, primarily engineering.
Musk doesn't have an engineering degree - and kind of has a science degree. He began the first in physics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, after he moved to Canada from his native South Africa. He completed it at the University of Pennsylvania, where he transferred after two years to earn his second bachelor’s degree, in economics, at the Wharton School. He completed it the following year. Musk then headed for Stanford to start a Ph.D. in applied physics, which he dropped out of.
Musk may have tipped the scales in favour of one, but an all out 'Science vs Engineering' battle seems to have stared on Twitter, simply because of his somewhat misguided, somewhat vague tweets.