eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) (07/28/88)
followups to sci.misc -- don't want to upset the .space folk... In <9570@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> dalex@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (David Alexander) writes: >In article <1529@spdcc.COM> eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias) writes: >> no references at all. i contend that none are necessary. >> just as it doesn't take an advanced degree in engineering to >> see how stupid it was to launch Challenger in freezing temps, > >It takes one of two things. You can figure it out based on a combination >of advanced engineering education and experience with the O rings, >as Roger Boisjoly did, in which case you can reach the conclusions in >time to act. Or you can use hindsight and a copy of Time magazine, >as millions of armchair rocket scientists have done since. I don't know >who first said it, but it is a favorite quote of mine, > > "It takes the clearest of minds to point out that > which, once pointed out, is clear to everyone." >Common sense, uninformed by hindsight and a clear explanation of the >O rings, has no basis to criticize a cold weather shuttle launch. >Bad example. i think it is the ultimate example. one needn't be an engineer to know that the shuttle launch was a poor decision. the O rings were never tested at low temperature. an English Lit prof could have reached the decision not to launch -- as long as he knew that cold temperatures were outside the database of O ring data. this was common knowledge to the engineering staff -- they told management and were ignored. if they had told the hypothetical English prof, he would not have launched. Richard Feynmann summed it all up nicely when he dropped a piece of o-ring material into a glass of ice water and showed everyone how brittle it got. hindsight??? maybe. but it was reasonable to expect those with decision making power to employ a little foresight and not launch a shuttle in completely untested conditions... >> it doesn't take a geologic genius to realize that building a >> nuclear plant on an earthquake fault is pure stupidity. > >Now THIS is a reasonable application of common sense. oh!