As a matter of fact... by ana (4.00 / 4) #2 Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 04:20:28 PM EST
I am a rocket scientist. That said, there's still a substantial amount of common sense involved, and it's often overlooked.

"And this ... is a piece of Synergy." --Kellnerin


I've often thought about this. by ni (4.00 / 3) #12 Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 09:32:31 PM EST
You're not the first astrophysicist I've known who has described themselves as a rocket scientist. Generally, in so far as any career path has claimed the phrase, you guy seem to. But you don't actually do much with rockets, do you? I mean, surely you're a rocket scientist in the same way that we could describe, say, a biologist as a 'microscope scientist'. Isn't aeronautical engineering really the career with the better claim?

Which isn't to say that what you do isn't extremely skilled, difficult work, of course. Indeed, at this point it's probably more skilled than aeronautical engineering is. But something merely being skilled doesn't make it rocket science. I mean, my alcohol consumption far exceeds that of the average person. I'm not sure I'm a professional (at least, Revenue Canada doesn't seem to think I am) at it, but there is surely a great deal of skill and training behind it. There's the matter of pre-eating, with all of its nutritional requirements to think about, and careful choice of beverage (which often, complicating, changes as the night wears on), and speed control (which requires modeling as a non-linear system). This says nothing of the complex field of Hangover Management, which is an entire sub-discipline. But despite this, sir, I make no pretense toward being a rocket scientist.


"What woman wouldn't love a guy in WW2 aviator glasses eating their ass?" -- dest
[ Parent ]

True enough. by ana (4.00 / 1) #13 Thu Jan 10, 2008 at 10:33:02 PM EST
I haven't ever built a rocket, which I think is what the original phrase "rocket science" was about. And in fact, not being on the experimental/instrumentation side of things, I haven't actually flown an instrument I worked on, on a sounding rocket, though a bunch of people I've worked with have done just that.

I have been involved in three projects now that were launched on the Space Shuttle; two attached payloads (operated from the ground while the shuttle was in orbit) and one deployable one (still up there, doing science, though controlled from the ground).

"And this ... is a piece of Synergy." --Kellnerin
[ Parent ]

Yeah, there was that chick in Top Gun by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #17 Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 09:21:27 AM EST
giving dogfighting tips to the flyboys because she was an astrophysicists, what's up with that?


[ Parent ]

how bout this -- i'm an anti-rocket scientist. by garlic (2.00 / 0) #21 Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 01:34:30 PM EST
Well, engineer. and they're more properly called missiles than rockets. But my job is to make them fail to do their job, so at least the anti is right.

[ Parent ]

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