Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

What stands out to me about Kranz's view of technology and the future is his optimism. While it might be tempting to dismiss this as dated postwar scientific idealism (e.g. Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y."), Kranz walked the walk by successfully guiding the greatest accomplishment of the era.

Kranz's inclusion of "love" adjacent to "skills" and "knowledge" is the lesson our current technological culture could stand to learn the most from.



> Kranz walked the walk by successfully guiding the greatest accomplishment of the era.

The greatest human accomplishment ever.


I don’t know about that. Magellan’s 1519 circumnavigation around what was then unknown parts is also worthy that title.


Only commenting on this because "unknown" feels a bit off, especially in the context of greatest human achievements.

Much of the Polynesian Triangle and Indian Ocean trade routes were established hundreds and in some areas thousands of years prior to Magellan. Tierra del Fuego (Straight of Magellan) had been inhabited by nomadic seafarers for thousands of years. Magellan's personal circumnavigation requires including his previous voyages to the Malay peninsula via India.

Circumnavigation a mere ~30 years after Portugal first reached the Cape of Good Hope is extraordinary. Full stop.

But tweaking perspective shows how reaching the Indian Ocean pulled back the curtain on an already developed world, where interconnected maritime trade included both China and Mozambique. The 1300s scholar Ibn Battuta of Tangier visited Beijing, Timbuktu, Singapore, Kenya, and Constantinople within 30 years. Technology and motivations unique to Europeans stitched together routes across the world and did it in a way that enabled others to quickly follow, but there were precious few places visited that someone else didn't already traverse and call home.


"Unknown parts" to Magellan and his peers, it's worth emphasizing.


Well put. I especially like the reference to I.G.Y. I always loved that song.


"Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision"




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: