"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."
— Richard Feynman
For A Successful Technology Reality Must
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.
About this quote
Richard Feynman wrote this as part of his personal appendix (Appendix F) to the Rogers Commission Report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, submitted in 1986. He had joined the investigating commission and famously demonstrated, with a glass of ice water and a rubber O-ring, that the O-ring seals failed in cold temperatures. The final line of his appendix — this statement — was directed at NASA's culture of discounting technical warnings in favor of optimistic public relations.
Source
Appendix F to the Rogers Commission Report on the Challenger disaster (1986)
