Cautionary Conversation: Flying on Empty

9. september 2022 · 32m

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Play — keeps going as you browse

Ikke vurdert ennå

Kommentarer

eldste først

Logg inn for å bli med i diskusjonen.

Programnotater

A meter is longer than a yard. An ounce is heavier than a gram. We harmlessly mix them up sometimes, but a "unit conversion error" when you're filling up the fuel tanks of an airliner can be fatal. Which is exactly what happened to Air Canada Flight 143.

Tim Harford talks to mathematician and comedian Matt Parker about how the aircraft came to take off without the proper fuel load, how no one noticed until it was too late, and why such errors give us an insight into just how important maths is to keeping our complex world working as it should.

For more "unit conversion errors" check out Matt's book Humble Pi.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flere episoder

The Doors of Death: The Herald of Free Enterprise24. juli "What a Bloody Mess we're in" - Britain's [REDACTED] Accident17. juli Attack of the Night People10. juli LIVE: We Are Not Machines - with Sarah O'Connor3. juli Treacle Tears: The Boston Molasses Disaster26. juni

Hvor du kan lytte

Hvor du kan lytte til Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Lytt på Apple Podcasts