The Half-Life of Facts:Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date

by: Samuel Arbesman (Author)

Publisher: Current

Publication Date: 18 Oct. 2012

Language: English

Print Length: 256 pages

ISBN-10: 159184472X

ISBN-13: 9781591844723

Book Description

Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. It used to be thought the Earth was the centre of the universe and that Pluto was a planet. What is known about the world is constantly changing. There is an order to the state of knowledge, an explanation for how we know what we know. Samuel Arbesman is an expert in the field of scientometrics, literally the science of science. Knowledge in most fields evolves systematically and predictably and this evolution unfolds in a fascinating way that can have a powerful impact on human life.