What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Furt... -

During a televised hearing, the room was stiff with tension and prepared statements. Richard sat quietly with a glass of ice water and a small C-clamp he’d bought at a hardware store. He had a piece of the O-ring material—a small, unassuming red loop.

The official line was that the cold weather on the morning of the launch shouldn't have mattered. The "experts" had charts and data suggesting the rubber was resilient enough. But Richard didn't care about their charts. He cared about the nature of the material itself. What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Furt...

He remembered Arline. Even years after her death, her voice was the clearest thing in his mind. “What do you care what other people think?” she would say whenever he worried about social graces or academic standing. She had been the one to teach him that the truth didn't have a hierarchy. During a televised hearing, the room was stiff