Seminar When Science Got It Wrong

The conference offers a journey through some striking failures in science and technology: cutting-edge aircraft that exploded mid-flight because of square windows, microchips that got their divisions wrong, ships that broke apart while still in harbour — failures that were not caused by negligence, but occurred despite the commitment and expertise of the very best professionals.

Starting from these examples, the talk will explore the strategies the scientific community has developed to prevent failures, highlighting the importance of collaboration and critical discussion. The true strength of science does not lie in infallibility, but in its ability to learn from mistakes through a collective, critical, and self-correcting approach.