Sport: Mathematical Mile

The four-minute mile is possible. So reported Dr. Alfred W. Francis, research chemist and amateur trackman, in Science. Using a plot of average speed in meters per second against the logarithm of the distance, he drew a graph of 17 record marks, from 200 meters to 10 miles. The point for one mile was well below Arne Andersson's present record: 4:02.6. Dr. Francis, whose own record for the mile is 4:38, figures it can be run in 3:58.7.

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