Neil Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11, the first astronaut to ever set foot on the moon, and a man whose accomplishments were legendary and far-reaching. But he was also an irrepressible nerd in love with mathematics, science and engineering. This is his manifesto.
This speech was delivered at the National Press Club on 22 February 2000 and is accompanied here with an animation by Jorge Cham, the man behind PHD Comics. It is truly inspirational. A taster:
“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… Science is about what is. Engineering is about what can be.”
It amazing to listen to Armstrong talk about the startling progress of the 20th century and what we can expect from the 21st. Here’s to the nerds. [PHD Comics]