Spotlight in Genius: October Sky

Rocket Science is widely understood to be pretty complex and extremely difficult to learn. Despite fields like quantum physics and neuroscience, the fact remains that it is very, very hard to get people off of the planet since gravity really, really doesn’t want us to go that way. Also known as Aerospace Engineering, there are hundreds of different sciences that are part of it, including aerodynamics for the flight, material science to keep the rocket together and safe, and chemistry to make the rocket fuel burn just right. So when I say that a guy named Homer Hickham and his friends taught themselves rocket science in the mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia, and that he later went on to work for NASA, you can be sure that his story was amazing enough to be made into a movie: October Sky.

While it’s been out for many years now, I don’t hear it mentioned a lot despite how incredible it is. If you haven’t seen it then I highly encourage you to do so before reading further. The movie is brilliant, and I believe it shows us some incredible truths about developing Genius.

The Rocket Boys

The movie focuses on Homer’s high school years in Coalville during the late 1950s, where he was inspired to learn about rockets. Recruiting some friends, they begin testing makeshift rockets and learn over time how to improve their creations. While some people in the town support their efforts, Homer’s dad doesn’t like what they’re doing. He pushes Homer to give it up and work in the coal mine like himself, causing the two to fight often throughout the film. 

The boys struggle to be taken seriously and get the parts they need but are then accused of starting a fire with one of their rockets and are banned from continuing their flights. Homer and his friend manage to prove that it wasn’t their fault through advanced mathematics. Homer goes on to compete in a national science fair, the prize being scholarships for him and his friends. Despite setbacks, they manage to win, with Homer and his father finally coming to understand each other as they fire off their last homemade rocket. 

Genius out of the Ordinary

This real-life story of four boys who became rocket scientists demonstrates something very clearly about genius: it can come from anyone, anywhere, if people help it grow. Kids in Coalwood lived their lives expecting to mine coal the same way their fathers did or to marry a miner the way their mothers did. As the high school principal in the movie comments, his job was, “to give these kids an education. Not false hopes.” These kids had no career prospects, no support from their educational system, and initially very little encouragement from their family or friends.

But the Rocket Boys caught an idea and held onto it, and they did so for long enough that other people noticed. A mine worker and welder named Ike Bykovsky, helped them make the first parts for their rockets. Their chemistry and physics teacher, Miss Riley, inspired them to keep trying and defended them to the school administration, later gifting Homer an advanced textbook to help them in their efforts. And Leon Bolden, Bykovsky’s replacement after he is tragically killed in a mining accident, helps them make the nozzles for the rockets. These three people invested their time and energy in these boys when no one else would, and as they kept improving their support from the town only grew. During that time, Homer and his friends were able to learn calculus, chemistry, physics, and so much more which, all together, became their genius. In the movie, Homer rightly honors their early supporters and the town itself, thanking them all for believing in their rockets.

Diamonds from Coal

It’s a strange thing, but we are often very unwilling to be supportive of other people when they are starting something new. We worry that it will fail, or that such efforts are misguided. We are afraid to have faith in others until after they have proven themselves to us.

People also like to think that genius comes naturally. For some reason, we prefer genius to be magical and mysterious, a byproduct of genes, talent, or a divine blessing. The reality is that genius is made. Made by the hard work of the individual with genius, but also collectively by the communities which support them.

If we are to ever see an increase of genius in our world we have to be brave enough to be the first ones to believe in it. Every person, including the sons of coal miners, has greatness inside of them. By believing in that and believing in them they can learn to believe in themselves. To paraphrase Miss Riley, why don’t we start believing in the unlucky ones? Those unlucky people and kids who are stuck in difficult places. Anyone can learn rocket science, with the right help. If we can be that help for others and support them in their genius then we’ll get to see the ‘rockets’ they make one day too, you know. And I think it’s worth all that effort just to see them fly.