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A Leap of Faith From the Eiffel Tower

A Leap of Faith From the Eiffel Tower

FromCautionary Tales with Tim Harford


A Leap of Faith From the Eiffel Tower

FromCautionary Tales with Tim Harford

ratings:
Length:
33 minutes
Released:
Sep 23, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Inventor Franz Reichelt wants to test his novel "parachute suit" from as tall a structure as possible - and the Eiffel Tower seems ideal. Previous trial runs used a mannequin strapped to the chute and have not ended well. Despite this, his plan is to make the Eiffel Tower jump himself. Can he be persuaded to see sense?
Self-experimentation - particularly in the field of medicine - has a long and checkered history. Can we learn anything useful from such unorthodox experiments, or are they reckless acts of egotism and hubris? 
For a full list of sources go to timharford.com.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Released:
Sep 23, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.