Yes, science was essential to all these achievements and more. But there's one other critical element that is also essential and unfortunately neglected: engineering.

Scientists identified the chemistry needed to make the COVID vaccines, but it was engineers who figured out how to make the equipment to mass-produce, package, and store them.

It was engineers who figured out how to use science to put humans on the moon and bring them back safely. It was engineers that designed and built the hardware and software to detect ripples in the fabric of spacetime. And it's engineers who manage to squeeze a supercomputer into something you can put in your pocket.

Science needs engineering and engineering needs science.

So, by all means, let's applaud and support all our scientists. Let's also applaud and support all the engineers.