Sunday, October 19, 2008

How do I size thee? Let me count the ways

We're getting into double-decker bus territory here. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, the Icelandic population would fit into about 6,000 double-decker buses, which, piled on top of each other, would reach 600 times the height of Nelson's Column. If Icelanders all linked hands they would stretch from London to Leeds - whose population, incidentally, is twice the size of Iceland's.

A few more calculations: £250 billion, spread out on the ground in £5 notes, would yield an area 50 times the size of Iceland.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article4909023.ece

Covering Iceland in £5 notes would cost £54,000 billion. Why do obviously well educated commentators have such a poor grasp of mathematics?

Richard Williams, Sutton, England

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