The mathematician who proved that airplanes couldn't fly

GhostfaceKillah

GhostfaceKillah

Active member
some of you may have heard of the story of the mathematician who proved that airplanes couldn't fly.... I need details. who was it? how did he do it? anyone? Google hasn't been of much assistance.
 
Its also been mathematically proven that motion is impossible, but i just walked over here to my computer and opened this thread so i guess math isn't so great after all.
 
I wouldn't call that math as much as it is the wrong application of the idea of infinitesimals to the real world. You are talking about xenos paradox and its more of philosophical bullshit than math.
 
It obviously wasn't mathematically proven seeing as the dumbass made an error in his calculations and didnt include all the necessary data. Math proved nothing because he fucked up.
 
There was a thread on here a while ago about this. I don't know about any specific person who did the math. But acording to the Bernouli principle a cessna would have to go like 250 mph just to get of the ground. So there are other forces at work, from what I read it's mostly angle of attack and some vortex forces. (excuse the spelling, on iPhone)
 
It is well known that in most scientific subjects, models can be created, with certain variations, exclusion of certain variables, variation in assumptions, etc, to prove almost anything. Economists have been doing it for 100 years. If the economy goes to shit, invent a new model that will 'create stability'. When that fucks up, make an even newer, more complicated sounding one. And so on.
 
calvin-and-hobbes.jpg
 


http://danielmiessler.com/blog/why-planes-fly-what-they-taught-you-in-school-was-wrong

"It is amazing that today, almost 100 years after the first flight of the Wright Flyer, groups of engineers, scientists, pilots, and others can gather together and have a spirited debate on how an airplane wing generates lift. Various explanations are put forth, and the debate centers on which explanation is the most fundamental."

Read this article on why bees shouldn't fly. Also relative.

http://www.ftexploring.com/askdrg/askdrgalapagos.html
 
Simon Newcombe (1835-1909) was a celebrated astronomer who insisted in various articles that manned flight was physically impossible.

Quotes:

“The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force, can be united in a practical machine by which men shall fly along distances through the air, seems to the writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration to be.”

“Aerial flight is one of that class of problems with which men will never have to cope”

“Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.”

per Wiki:

-born in Wallace, Nova Scotia, Canada (Newfie! no wonder!

-the airfoil wasn't discovered/invented when he made these claims

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Newcomb
 
with the proper conditions yes. Think about a paper airplane. However an air foil creates vortex forces which provide lift.
 
Ok, these guys should not be bashed, the mentality and knowledge they had in the late 1800 is nothing comparing to today. I just find it amazing that people can defy the impossible and accomplish so much with imagination, creativity and persistance.
 
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