The rocket scientist as man of action

I noticed this interview on The Art of Manliness blog some time back:

So You Want My Job: Rocket Scientist, about aerospace engineer Davy Haynes:

3. If a man wishes to become a rocket scientist, how should he best prepare? What kinds of degrees and credentials does he need?

Math and science studies are critical to being a good engineer in any area, and certainly so as a rocket scientist. A degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical engineering is essentially mandatory today, and a Masters degree doesn’t hurt. I also think some practical preparation, or experience, is invaluable as well—stuff like student design projects, R/C model aircraft construction, amateur rocketry, and of course, practical piloting experience.

Some space exploration obsessives have taken up aviation as the next best thing to piloting a space ship. Wernher von Braun flew small aircraft, for example.

Arthur C. Clarke, by contrast, took up scuba diving as his substitute for exploring new worlds.

I've wondered what I would have to do to get a pilot's license at my age, but with the ischemic damage in the retina of my right eye, I doubt I could pass the vision requirements.

Notice that Haynes doesn't say, "Read all the science fiction you can," though many aerospace people do read more than their share. I used to work with a fellow in the lodging business who obsessively read science fiction, fantasy and horror novels and comic books, played computer games in those genres, and needless to say watched those sorts of films on DVD all the time. The consumption of those media did not serve him well as preparation for practical life. The real-life versions of Comic Book Guy don't thrive for that very reason: they've wasted too much time on make-believe.

However, Haynes makes it sound too easy to enter "rocket science" these days, at least in the U.S. In the real world, plenty of perfectly good American engineers find themselves discarded by their 30's because American corporations keep outsourcing their jobs or giving preference to immigrant engineers who'll work in the U.S. for less money.