Cautionary Conversation: Flying on Empty

2022-09-09 · 32 min · episode 14 · 9 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ references Humble Pi book

0.68

evidence rules-v5
working as it should. For more "unit conversion errors" check out Matt's book Humble Pi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
→ hosted by Pushkin Industries person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Pushkin Industries
→ discusses Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
→ discusses History website

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History

Entities found in this episode

concepts 3

mentioned Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
mentioned Flying on Empty concept

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evidence rules-v5
Cautionary Conversation: Flying on Empty
discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture

books 2

mentioned Humble Pi book

0.81

evidence rules-v5
working as it should. For more "unit conversion errors" check out Matt's book Humble Pi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
references Humble Pi book

0.68

evidence rules-v5
working as it should. For more "unit conversion errors" check out Matt's book Humble Pi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

persons 2

mentioned Pushkin Industries person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Pushkin Industries
hosted by Pushkin Industries person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Pushkin Industries

websites 2

mentioned History website

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
discusses History website

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History

Episode description as stored

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.