Elon Musk Has a Problem With 'Rocket Scientists', Thinks Engineers Deserve All the Credit

Another day, another controversial Elon Musk tweet. “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 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. https://t.co/SHmUFsjIF5— Michael Baylor 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 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 December 2, 2020 Hey @elonmusk I know you are a billionaire, but you are wrong. A rocket engineer, need a rocket scientist https://t.co/ZJOxVKQuWp— OMONIAYANFE 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬 December 2, 2020 Elon Musk, however, isn’t wrong.