More power ... we know y' c'n do it!
Today we mourn the passing of a man who may have done more than anyone can calculate to bring about the future that, ironically, he already lived in. I wonder how many lifesaving devices and enabling technologies there are in the world today that were invented by people who imagined themselves to be able to react with such calm as the Man in Red did in the direst of emergencies and who could improvise an engine repair with raw materials? Indeed, he was the only man in red on whom you could always count to return from the mission intact, even though he was always ready to be first to jump into the fray with the hated enemy.
I'm talking of course about James Doohan, best-known for his Star Trek character, Commander Montgomery Scott (3 March 1920-20 July 2005), Chief of Engineering aboard the Enterprise.
Apparently, Scotty was actually Canadian, born in Vancouver. I didn't know that he had lost the middle finger of his right hand in the Normandy invasion, nor did I know that he was a genuine war hero. Thankfully, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where half of the students cited him as an inspiration, awarded him an honorary degree. More at Doohan's imdb biography.
I always thought that Scotty should have whipped out a roll of duct tape and/or baling wire in at least one episode, but apparently Hollywood writers didn't include engineers at the time they were writing what would become the most inspirational engineering show, ever. I've read that law school applications tend to pick up whenever there is a successful law show (starting with LA Law), and people have conjectured why we don't try to inspire more engineers that way. MacGyver? No, too hokey. Shows/movies like CSI, The Net, and Alias are more farce than actual science. Besides, I think it works better if the science takes a backseat to the plot and a clever script instead of being a costar. Science fiction is the perfect genre, but few recent shows offer the same depth and breadth of the original Star Trek, possibly because Roddenberry was smart enough to employ actual science fiction writers.
I, for one, disliked The Next Generation crap intensely. ATTENTION, WRITERS: YOU ARE WRITING A SHOW SET IN THE FUTURE WHERE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. YOU DON'T NEED A HOLODECK TO GO BACK IN TIME! Also, Number One is not a "hunk", Q and Data were just plain annoying, and you should never have forced Tasha Yar off the show over that Playboy spread. The best part about the original series was always the writing, something TNG gave up in favor of special effects and the bizarre Ferengi (were they supposed to be stereotypes of Jews, Japanese, or generic capitalists?). TNG never matched shows like All Our Yesterdays, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, and especially The Omega Glory from the original series.
Throughout, Doohan was unflappable in battle and knew everything about the ship. He was the quintessential professional engineer, but could still drink the rest of the crew under the table. Here's to y', sonny Jim!
I'm talking of course about James Doohan, best-known for his Star Trek character, Commander Montgomery Scott (3 March 1920-20 July 2005), Chief of Engineering aboard the Enterprise.
Apparently, Scotty was actually Canadian, born in Vancouver. I didn't know that he had lost the middle finger of his right hand in the Normandy invasion, nor did I know that he was a genuine war hero. Thankfully, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where half of the students cited him as an inspiration, awarded him an honorary degree. More at Doohan's imdb biography.
I always thought that Scotty should have whipped out a roll of duct tape and/or baling wire in at least one episode, but apparently Hollywood writers didn't include engineers at the time they were writing what would become the most inspirational engineering show, ever. I've read that law school applications tend to pick up whenever there is a successful law show (starting with LA Law), and people have conjectured why we don't try to inspire more engineers that way. MacGyver? No, too hokey. Shows/movies like CSI, The Net, and Alias are more farce than actual science. Besides, I think it works better if the science takes a backseat to the plot and a clever script instead of being a costar. Science fiction is the perfect genre, but few recent shows offer the same depth and breadth of the original Star Trek, possibly because Roddenberry was smart enough to employ actual science fiction writers.
I, for one, disliked The Next Generation crap intensely. ATTENTION, WRITERS: YOU ARE WRITING A SHOW SET IN THE FUTURE WHERE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. YOU DON'T NEED A HOLODECK TO GO BACK IN TIME! Also, Number One is not a "hunk", Q and Data were just plain annoying, and you should never have forced Tasha Yar off the show over that Playboy spread. The best part about the original series was always the writing, something TNG gave up in favor of special effects and the bizarre Ferengi (were they supposed to be stereotypes of Jews, Japanese, or generic capitalists?). TNG never matched shows like All Our Yesterdays, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, and especially The Omega Glory from the original series.
Throughout, Doohan was unflappable in battle and knew everything about the ship. He was the quintessential professional engineer, but could still drink the rest of the crew under the table. Here's to y', sonny Jim!
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