Rocket Boys
by Homer H. Hickam · first published 1998
10mentions
3recommended by
8HN commenters
2010–2024first – last mentioned
38% recommend63% neutral
Homer Hickam, a NASA engineer, recounts his childhood in Coalwood, a West Virginia mining town, and discusses his dreams of launching rockets into outer space, and how he made those dreams come true.
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I hope some one has sent her a copy of rocket boys Homer Hickam :-)
on “Kiera Wilmot is going to Space Camp” ↗if you want an autobiographic a take read Rocket Boys: by Homer Hickam. These days those kids would probably have gone to uni but in 1950's company towns they where destined for the mine or blue collar jobs Homer got drafted and went to Vietnam only later…
on “America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 (2008)” ↗…half of the 20th century, you'll see that a lot of industries were highly abusive of workers, not just radium industry. I'm sure it's even worse pre-20th century. For example: - coal mining (read: "The Rocket Boys" by Homer Hickam) - tons of coal mining injury, death, and chronic illness (black lung). Stakeholders were aware of the causes of black lung but put profit over people. - horse racing (read: "Seabiscuit"…
on “Undark and the Radium Girls (2006)” ↗Yea :D I read Rocket Boys recently so it was kind of cool finding Homer Hickam in news.
on “Kiera Wilmot is going to Space Camp” ↗A bit like the Rocket Boys in the late 50's probably because they came from a holler up in the mountains didn't get to go to MIT. Homer Hickam went to Vietnam and made it via the GI bill in the end.
on “Why Many Smart, Low-Income Students Don't Apply to Elite Schools” ↗- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari - Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight - Rework by Jason Fried - Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand - The Martian by Andy Weir - Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…science, and engineering on their own, and they really experienced those disciplines. A nice portrayal of one such person is in the movie "October Sky," based on Homer Hickam's autobiographical book, "Rocket Boys."
on “Alan Kay is still waiting for his dream to come true” ↗Yeah, "Rocket Manual For Amateurs", the book that inspired Homer "Rocket Boys" Hickam. EDIT: Wow, ha ha, I just remembered that 15 or so years ago I was in a bidding war on eBay over a copy of "Rocket Manual For Amateurs". When I realized that I was bidding against Homer Hickam…
on “Mad Scientists' Club: The Books” ↗In his book "Rocket Boys", Homer Hickman tells how his mother saved a little from her household budget and invested it in stock of companies that made bandaids, and eventually used the proceeds to buy a summer house in Florida.…
on “Ask HN: How do you pick stocks?” ↗If you read books from the early 1900s (Radium Girls, Rocket Boys, Seabiscuit), it's painfully obvious to see how incredibly exploitative industries can become (literally working people to death) without something like a union to check corporate greed against worker…
on “New York Times tech workers union votes to authorize a strike” ↗