In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney is stranded alone on the surface of Mars. He must use all his knowledge and ingenuity to survive.

In the movie adaptation, Watney keeps a video log of his experiences. In one entry, he sums up his dire situation:

“In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option. I’m going to have to science the sh*t out of this.”

It’s a catchy line that shows up in trailers and movie clips. It is quite wrong.

Most of what Watney does to survive is not science. It’s engineering.

To be clear, Watney is a botanist, which is scientist that studies plants. And he does do some science - like when he continues the work of other mission scientists. Throughout the story, he demonstrates extensive knowledge of chemistry and physics.  And he’s good with math.  All that knowledge is essential to his survival. So is his comfort with tools and electronics.

But the most important thing that Watney does is solve problems.  Even when a solution fails, he keeps at it, until he finds something that works.

Engineering is about solving problems. Science, on the other hand, is about discovery and adding to our knowledge of the universe.

“Why?” and “How?” are both essential questions. We need to always be improving our understanding of why things are the way they are.  But we also need to be able to use that understanding to improve things.

Science and engineering are both critical to humanity’s survival on this or any other planet.  

So stay curious. Learn chemistry and physics and advanced math. But practice engineering design, too. Get comfortable with tools and failure.

Because you never know when you might need to engineer the sh*t out of a situation.

Find out more about the differences between science and engineering.