12 thoughts on “Happy 81st birthday, Nylon!

      1. People use "rocket science" as a metaphor for the most difficult tasks imaginable, but rocket engineering seems much more challenging. There used to be, and maybe still is, a V-2 on display in the great hall of the National Air and Space Museum. It's astonishing to see that the steering vanes were controlled by a chain-driven sprocket, like a bicycle. First man-made object to go faster than the speed of sound (3,580 mph!) or reach the lower boundaries of outer space (128 mi): an astonishing engineering achievement in the worst circumstances possible, in service of the worst governmental entity in modern times, although the Japanese and Soviets were pretty murderous too.

        That concludes my prepared bloviations. Are there any questions?

        1. Yes- when are you going to get in the game?

          Edit: OK, maybe that was overly mean. Truth be told, I've felt every good scientist is part engineer, and every good engineer is part scientist. The line can and should be blurry for maximum efficiency. There are a lot of HARD problems every step along the way.

          1. These days I use my modest math and science skills to solder wires and compute power requirements for various hi-fi bits. I did blow up a $50 vacuum tube a while back, so there's that! It took a few fuses and several other electrobits with it when it died. Quite an entertaining and expensive holocaust!

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