Vade Mecum, part 3 Celso A. Melo and the Chinese captain
- Miguel Fernández
- Jul 7
- 2 min read
Professor Celso was also remarkable for his broad general knowledge. He seemed to have a deep understanding of any subject he addressed or was asked about. What an ability to express himself in a cultured yet simple manner.
He became unforgettable because of a problem he gave on a test, one whose answer is still not entirely known today, since everything keeps changing.
It was worthwhile as a mental exercise and for the world of potential problems and the complexity of seemingly simple matters that it opened up before us:
Suppose an aircraft manufactured in the United States, operated by Lufthansa (under the German flag), took off from Buenos Aires bound for London with a stopover in Rio de Janeiro, with its chief pilot (the captain) being an Austrian residing in Prague. During the stop in Rio, several passengers board, including a married couple: he is Mexican and she is Colombian and pregnant. In the middle of the Atlantic crossing, the Colombian woman gives birth, assisted by a Portuguese doctor who happened to be on board. Because of this unforeseen event, the aircraft is forced to land in Tenerife so that the child can be taken to a hospital.
The question is: what is the child's nationality?
A_ Argentine? F_ Mexican?
B_ Brazilian? G_ Colombian?
C_ Austrian? H_ Portuguese?
D_ Czech? I_ Spanish?
E_ English? J_ American?
The example may serve for many other situations. Suppose that instead of a child being born, there had been a fight between two passengers. A robbery. A death. Which legislation applies?
For an engineer accustomed to wanting to solve everything with numbers?
It was fascinating to discover that there were people concerned with such matters! That civilization is also made of this.
The Chinese man mentioned in the title of this chronicle is there only to annoy the reader with the scribbler.
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