Corrected entry: When Langdon, Vittoria, Ollivetti and a Swiss guard driver are in the car, the driver says "My wife and I -" before being cut off by Ollivetti, but in an earlier chapter the book states that Swiss Guard must be unmarried.
Corrected entry: Robert Langdon tells Vittoria Vetra that the Panthéon was given its name because the Romans were pantheists. Nonsense. The Romans were polytheistic.
Correction: One of the definitions of pantheism is a synonym for polytheism, meaning that this isn't actually a mistake.
Corrected entry: According to the book the pope has to be elected from the College of Cardinals. In reality there is no such requirement.
Correction: Near the end of the book, Dr. Vanek, the canon law expert, argues that this is not the case.
Corrected entry: The black camerawoman defines herself as African American. Why would a British person define themselves as American?
Correction: The book never states that she is British...just that she works for the BBC. She also states that she is Southern Baptist. I'm not sure there are too many British that would define themselfs as that religion. I always assumed that she was born in the US, but now lives and works in Britain.
Corrected entry: The Forum Romanum is described as having columns looking like "toppled gravestones". The columns of the Forum are standing, not toppled.
Correction: The Forum Romanum is a large area. While some columns are standing, there are many toppled columns and blocks in the ruins.
Corrected entry: Near the beginning of the book, the X-33 airplane travels at Mach 15, "hurtling through space at 11,000 miles per hour." There's a slight problem with this, however: 11,000 miles per hour at this altitude (60,000 feet) is actually over Mach 16, because the speed of sound decreases with altitude.
Correction: In fact there is no problem at all. Mach 1, when used as a measure of aircraft speed, is defined as 'the speed of sound in air at sea level at one atmosphere'. It does not alter with the local speed of sound, so ironically a high flying aircraft witll break 'the sound barrier' while flying at about Mach 0.92.
Correction: This is not entirely true. Swiss soldiers must be unmarried to enter into service with the Pontifical Swiss Guard. After that they are allowed to marry and, when married, are even eligible for an apartment inside Vatican City. From their own recruitment page: "To be allowed to marry Guards must be at least 25, have served for at least three years, commit themselves to serving for another three years and have at least the rank of Corporal."
Tanngrisnir