Episode 49 – Aberfan

This is an episode about large piles falling over. We start with the physics of sandcastles, and move quickly to the coal tip at Aberfan. This leads further to discussing hindsight explanations for accidents. The episode also includes a brief review of John Templer's "The Staircase".

Om Podcasten

Engineers make the news by designing cool things, building great things, or causing spectacular disasters. Apollo 11 is famous for putting astronauts on the Moon - Apollo 13 is famous for putting astronauts in extreme peril. The Curiousity Rover landed on Mars. The Mars Polar Lander crashed iinto Mars. The Golden Gate bridge is a spectacular landmark - the Tacoma Narrows bridge was a spectacular failure. There are place names hardly anyone would know except for the tragic events that happened there. Bhopal, Potters Bar, Chernobyl, Flixborough, Seveso, Fukushima. This is a podcast about how not to be famous.