Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,16 Feb 2019,9 mins

When maths mistakes really matter

More or Less

Available for over a year

Tim Harford talks to mathematically-minded comedian Matt Parker about what happens when maths mistakes are made in the real world. The author of a new book, Humble Pi, reveals how numerical errors have caused major problems for airline pilots and, potentially, a vast number of the world’s computers. Producer: Lizzie McNeill (Two and two make five, an incorrect equation written on a blackboard. Credit: Getty Images)

Programme Website
More episodes