Obstacles to a revolution in air technology
Monday, October 13, 2014 - 07:00
in Mathematics & Economics
When in 1873 Jules Verne published his novel of planet-trotting high adventure, the world was on the verge of an explosion in global travel. New trans-continental railways and the Suez canal promised an increase in the speed with which one might circumnavigate the world. Yet the denizens of the Reform Club in old-world London remained stolid in their opinion that protagonist Phileas Fogg's proposed 80-day circumnavigation would simply be impossible.