I’m not sure that it is that large a mistake. It seems that the mistake is that they weren’t influenced by time as a fourth dimension but by the pre-Einsteinian idea of more than 3 spatial dimensions. If that’s what Ritchie is saying then the problem might have been subtle to someone who didn’t know much math or physics. I don’t think that understanding this is helped by Ritchie’s writing style.
I’m not sure that it is that large a mistake. It seems that the mistake is that they weren’t influenced by time as a fourth dimension but by the pre-Einsteinian idea of more than 3 spatial dimensions. If that’s what Ritchie is saying then the problem might have been subtle to someone who didn’t know much math or physics. I don’t think that understanding this is helped by Ritchie’s writing style.