Here are three famous stories that illustrate why accuracy and stability are critical in engineering and finance. 1. The Patriot Missile Failure: Accumulating Drift
In 1991, a Patriot missile system failed to intercept a Scud missile, causing fatalities, because its tracking software ran continuously for 100 hours. The system converted integer time to seconds using a binary approximation of Accuracy and Stability of Numerical Algorithms
, introducing a tiny error. This small discrepancy accumulated over time, creating a 0.34-second delay, which meant the missile was looking over 500 meters away from the actual target, causing a failure in tracking. 2. The Ariane 5 Explosion: The Perils of Overflow Here are three famous stories that illustrate why