Think Like a Rocket Scientist

One approach to fi nding the best solution to a problem is to start with a good solution and to then improve upon it. As World Chess Champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker said, �When you fi nd a good move, look for a better one.� The great success of the Volkswagen Beetle was based on this concept. Every year small changes were made�only those that improved the vehicle. For decades, �the people�s car� was the most popular in the world. The Boeing 700 series aircraft follow a similar theme. The Boeing 707 established the archetype for the later models. This nearly optimal design spawned larger, more effi cient versions: the 727, 737, 757, and the 747 jumbo jet. The reason these aircraft look so similar is that they are so close to the perfect solution of what a subsonic jet airliner should be. Why are they called the 700 series? Because Americans believe in lucky numbers and �7� is considered lucky. Most hotels don�t number the thirteenth fl oor as �13�; they label it �14.� Otherwise, people just won�t stay in those rooms. The Boeing 707 would never have gotten off the ground if it was called the �Boeing 1300� or �the Boeing 1313.� Probably the �Boeing 666� would not have been very popular either. The Boeing people were smart engineers in their basic design and evolutionary improvements, and they were also smart in naming the beast with a nice numerical scheme that appeals to the numerologists in us. There is, of course, a Boeing 777 now, and that sounds like another improvement�it has an extra 7!