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Expert predictions of the lifetimes of non-renewable resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Albert A. Bartlett
Albert A. Bartlett*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. 80309-0390
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Extract

The editor of this journal recently deplored the inability of members of the government to make correct use of the simple mathematics that they encounter in their various capacities. The purpose of this article is to call attention to a common mathematical failing of those who are “authorities” in questions such as the life expectancies of non-renewable resources. My particular example comes from Britain, although failures such as this one are common among “experts” in the U.S.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 78 , Issue 482 , July 1994 , pp. 127 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1994

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References

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