Useful Errors: From Copernicus to Potato Chips

Many people know that Columbus wouldn't have dared to sail across the Atlantic if he had been aware how far the way to Asia really is. But there exist a lot more errors which turned out to be useful. Great thinkers like Copernicus and Einstein, but also ordinary people made mistakes which changed our world in many ways.

A collection of the most interesting and useful errors in history, science, kitchen and art.

Contents:
Errors – always negative?
To err as a program? Trial and error or: What geniuses and rainworms have in common
Mistakes? How delicious! – Potato crisps and cauliflower
The great fried potatoes failure
Tofu, cheese, wine & Co.
Cauliflower and beyond
In wine there is error
Copernicus or: a rounder rounding
… and Kepler
Discovering America with Aristotle
El Dorado: the mirage of greed
Dreams, lies and literature: Schliemann
Creative misunderstandings in literature
Kandinsky or: The right wrong view
Only relatively right assumptions: theory of relativity
Unsuccessful, but still a masterpiece: the Michelson–Morley experiment
A bit of theory on error
Sloppiness saves the lives of millions
Can false prophecies be useful?


Derek Miller has worked as a newspaper journalist on topics in science, culture and politics.