I enjoyed listening to Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson as he made the circuit publicizing his book, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Future. I must admit that I had a hard time following the discussions of space. But, one idea that struck me was his argument for the benefits of the space race of the 60s. He argues that the space race created a culture of innovation that reached throughout the US.
"Yes it was a space race, but what specifically mattered about the space race is that every day, we were reaching farther than we had the day before. And when you do that, either literally or metaphorically, you have to invent something. You have to innovate because you're about to do what has never been done before.
That practically, by definition, is innovation, and the space program became proxy for anyone's effort to try to create a new kind of tomorrow compared with the today they were living in."
Whether or not you can remember the space race, we would be interested in knowing what you think. Did the space rate spur innovation in the US in the 1960's? Would a 21st century version of the space race spur innovation today?
You can learn more here.
Comments