On August 14, 2007, I went to the capital to attend the West Virginia Technology Conference. I met Homer Hickam, the prototype of October Sky. He was the keynote speaker of this conference. Like other keynote speeches, the content of his speech seemed to have little connection with the theme of this conference, but everyone was fascinated by it.
This person's father is also called Homer Hickman. Hollywood felt that it was inappropriate for both father and son to be called Homer, so he changed his father's name to John. In fact, it was his son Homer Hickman who was actually renamed. He was born in Coalwood, West Virginia in 1943, a small remote place. The mother's first son was Jim, and the youngest Homer was the second child at home. His mother thought he was a girl, and he was named Susie.
His mother was also a fashionable woman at the time and insisted on being the first woman in Coalwood to give birth to a child in the hospital. At that time, the old Homer had just been promoted to foreman, and he always felt that he had to be low-key and not to be so ostentatious. So he told his wife, what kind of decent is he, even going to the hospital to give birth to a child? At that time, people in Coalwood were still looking for a midwife to solve the problem of childbirth. The couple is in a dispute here. When it was about to give birth, Mrs. Homer clutched her stomach and ran to the neighbor's house. The neighbor drove to the hospital and gave birth to the little Susie. After giving birth, she found something extra, so Susie's name was invalidated on the spot. The nurse took a look and said, "This is the ugliest child I have ever seen." His mother said, "It's all inherited from his father." So he named him Homer Hickman. This name is the same as his later generation. A huge irony, a Homer did not develop into a family man, but attacked the city and made breakthroughs in his career.
All this is related to his childhood rocket.
We have all seen how many times farmers built airplanes, cars, and submarines. In this regard, the practices of Chinese and American farmers (Homer is a mountain dweller in the mountains of West Virginia) are the same, that is, they are stubborn. It's not that they are stupid and insist on making things that have already been made. But most people have forgotten that the development of technology is like stacking arhats, where people keep standing on the shoulders of giants, thus getting higher and higher. Everyone got off the shoulders of giants and built airplanes and cars from scratch. Who is better than who? Homer made the rocket because of this stubbornness and reluctance.
At that time, the Soviet Union's first satellite, Sputnik, went up to the sky. The Americans were like being slapped severely. The most painful was the group of ultra-idealistic rocket boys with Homer Hickam at the core of Coalwood. They began to develop rockets at home. Among the countless rockets, some flew horizontally, piercing a large hole in their fence, causing the fence to catch fire. Some jumped up and down, like an electric drill, smashing the bathroom scale in Mrs. Homer's bathroom. Finally, the Earth Rocket successfully lifted off and flew about six miles high. At that time, the women covered their ears, the Ohio engineers climbed onto the roof, the Rocket boys held their breath, and the old Homer was so excited as a monkey. Jump.
In addition to the excitement of the Soviet Union, Homer's mother's encouragement is also a big motivation for Rocket Boy Homer. When these boys were tinkering with the rockets, the elder Homer actually had other arrangements for his son. He hoped that after graduating from high school, his son would go to work in the coal mine just like the millions of aspiring young people in West Virginia. Homer's mother, this woman is not unusual, she saved a small amount of private money and wants her son to go to college. However, at that time, women could not meet in the bank alone, so the chequebook was signed by both husband and wife. Old Homer did not sign, and Mrs. Homer's money could not be withdrawn. His mother said, "Let's do this, you really make the Rockets, fight for your breath, and change Dad's mind."
Hollywood filming is a typical American story. The prototype of the story tells us a typical West Virginia story. I think the latter is more exciting. There was also Chuck Yeager, the world’s first pilot to break the supersonic speed here in West Virginia. West Virginia is a mountainous area, and the outside world is very big and exciting. It is estimated that people here have gotten this kind of breakthrough consciousness, flying airplanes and building rockets. , Break the speed of sound, break self-limitation.
Hickam’s life is quite legendary. He went from a rock-making mountain boy to a NASA scientist. His memoir Rocket Boys has been on the top of the New York Times bestseller list. He is now writing novels in a local book, and his life continues to break through. .
Why did the American mountain people build rockets in their last life so glorious, and at this thousand-person conference, everyone stood up and applauded. Chinese peasants build submarines and airplanes, but have they often become a laughing stock? It is undeniable that the times are different, and China and the United States are different. This is not the era of the US-Soviet space race. The construction of rockets by farmers is purely wasteful and useless. But if you think about it carefully, Homer's rocket only flew 6 miles at that time, and it didn't bring much to the American space race. Actually they are all playing. If you don't waste your money or the country's money, it's better to just let it go. In a country, with such an environment that allows "playful" inquiry (playful inquiry), the development of science and technology has the stamina. Otherwise, it's just like the problem put forward by Huang Quanyu: Why do we often win the Olympic Games but can't win the Nobel? Usually, when we "play", everyone laughs, and we don't allow this kind of mischief, and only allow the crowd, then the creative potential will be frustrated. A person has the potential to grow, and if the growth environment is a jar, he can only grow into a dwarf in the end.
Unfortunately, after Homer's keynote speech, I had to do a presentation myself. I was busy preparing, and I didn't have the opportunity to line up to buy his autographed books. My colleague Sherri bought a copy and signed it: To a real rocket girl, Sherri (To a real rocket girl, Sherry. Homer Hickam.) I regret it, I should buy one, and it will become A real rocket man, so, promise One big China, Yao Ming is not the only Rocket boy.
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