
62 Applying Analytics: A Practical Introduction
than the uncertainty he estimated in the measured value. His result was bi-
ased because he used an incorrect value for the viscosity of air, a parameter
totally unrelated to the quantity he was measuring (Feynman 1997). Repeat-
ing his measurement over and over would not have allowed Millikan to reduce
this systematic error. Though Millikan was (deservedly) awarded the Nobel
prize for this work , the original measurement is an example of a dangerous
situation: a measured quantity whose distance from the true value is far larger
than the quoted uncertainty. E ven the best analy sts will make these kind ...