[ source ]
Neil Armstrong once portrayed himself as follows [1, 2]:
I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer—born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in the steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace, and propelled by compressible flow. As an engineer, I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession.
Neil “slipped the surly bonds of earth” and “trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space” [3]. He died yesterday [4, 5].
__________
Sources
[1] Neil A. Armstrong, Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century (transcript of speech), National Press Club, February 22, 2000.
[2] Neil A. Armstrong, Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century (audio of speech – Neil’s address starts at approximately 5:30), National Press Club, February 22, 2000.
[3] John Gillespie Magee, Jr., High Flight, England, 1941.
[4] John Noble Wilford, Neil Armstrong, first man on Moon, dies at 82, The New York Times, August 25, 2012.
[5] Craig Nelson, Neil Armstrong, hero with a slide rule, The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2012.
Tags: Astronauts, Engineering Professors, Engineers, Fighter Pilots, Heroes, Naval Aviators, Neil Armstrong, Test Pilots
