Other Technical Notes
- Dan Brown describes Vittoria as a 'Bio-entanglement
Physicist' who has disproved Einstein by observing fish behavior (page 38,
42, 407). While such a job description does not presently exist, the
notion of quantum entanglement (studied by particle physicists) is a real
and strange phenomenon. For more see the EPR Paradox.
- On page 54 we learn that Vittoria's research partner
(Vetra) discovered the Z particle, and that is has no mass. In fact the Z
particle was discovered at CERN in 1995, and does have a very small mass.
(See
wikipedia)
- On page 9 the book mentions the X-33 spaceplane. This
was a real project, a collaboration between NASA and Lockheed-Martin, but
was quite different from the 'Boeing X-33' described in the book (and
absent from the film). It was an unmanned experimental vehicle that
required a one-of-a-kind launch site, and so could not have been used to
ferry Professor Langdon between cities. The project ran into technical
difficulties and was cancelled in 2001 before assembly was complete. The
book also makes mention of the British Aerospace Hotol project on page 10.
Unfortunately, this was cancelled in 1988 (while some work continued until
1991).
- On page 14 Langdon is informed that at 60,000 ft he
weighs 30% less than at sea level. This is not true. It's possible this
calculation is based on the misconception that once you have left the
atmosphere and are in space, you are also weightless, but this is not the
case. There is general agreement that the division between the atmosphere
and space (and therefore aircraft and spacecraft) is at a height of 100 km
(62 miles), but the atmosphere extends much higher than this, getting ever
more thin. 100 km was chosen because it is at roughly this altitude that
wings become useless because the lift they provide is so slight that it
does not offset the weight of the wings. In fact, astronauts in the
International Space Station weigh substantially the same as at sea level
because they are not appreciably further from Earth's center of gravity.
- The mobile phones in the book appear to use technology
unlike that in the real world. For example, the have dial-tones, and can
receive signals deep underground (p98). The wireless cameras also have
this ability (p412).
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| Contributed by: Adrian Wyard
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