000 a
999 _c34950
_d34950
008 251111b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020 _a9781788169080
_c(hbk)
082 _a511.36
_bKUC
100 _aKucharski, Adam
245 _aProof : the uncertain science of certainty
260 _bProfile Books,
_c2025
_aLondon :
300 _a360 p. ;
_bill., map, charts,
_c25 cm
365 _b999.00
_c
_d01
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 _aHow do we establish what we believe? And how can we be certain that what we believe is true? And, assuming we are certain that what we believe is true, how do we convince other people that it is true? For over two thousand years, from the Medieval Arabic world to the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, scientific progress has relied on different methods of establishing fact from fiction. Achieve logical perfection and be rewarded with ultimate, universal truth. But there is far more to proof than axioms, theories and laws: when demonstrating that a new medical treatment works, persuading a jury of someone's guilt, or deciding whether you trust a self-driving car or a financial transaction, the weighing up of evidence is far from simple. To navigate proof, we must reach into a thicket of errors and biases, embrace uncertainty, to discern between truth and falsehood - never more so than when previously relied-upon methods fail. In Proof, bestselling author, statistician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski spans science, politics, philosophy and economics, to explore how truth emerges - and why it falters. How do you know if something is true? And once you get there, how do you convince others? For over two thousand years, scientific progress has relied on different methods of establishing fact from fiction. From the medieval Islamic world to the recent pandemic, the reasoning went: achieve logical perfection, and you would be rewarded with ultimate, universal truth. But there is far more to proof than axioms, theories and laws: when demonstrating that a new medical treatment works, persuading a jury of someone's guilt, or deciding whether you trust a self-driving car or a financial transaction, the weighing up of evidence is far from simple. Bestselling author, statistician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski ranges across science, politics, philosophy and economics, to explore how truth emerges - and why it falters. How do we know what's true? How do we establish what we believe? And how can we be certain that what we believe is true? And, assuming we are certain that what we believe is true, how do we convince other people that it is true? For over two thousand years, from the Medieval Arabic world to the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific progress has relied on different methods of establishing fact from fiction. Achieve logical perfection and be rewarded with ultimate, universal truth. But there is far more to proof than axioms, theories and laws: when demonstrating that a new medical treatment works, persuading a jury of someone's guilt, or deciding whether you trust a self-driving car or a financial transaction, the weighing up of evidence is far from simple. To navigate proof, we must reach into a thicket of errors and biases, embrace uncertainty, to discern between truth and falsehood, never more so than when previously relied-upon methods fail. In Proof, statistician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski spans science, politics, philosophy and economics, to explore how truth emerges and why it falters.
650 _aBelief and doubt
650 _aErrors, Scientific
650 _aLogic
650 _aSymbolic and mathematical
650 _aPopular works
650 _aPopular Science and Nature
650 _aProof theory
942 _2ddc
_cBK