Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from healthy to deadly. The recommended age for a mammogram continues to increase. And the healthiness of carbs and fat seems to be in constant flux. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe, that Pluto was a planet, and that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur. What we know about the world is constantly changing. In The Half-Life of Facts, Samuel Arbesman introduces us to the world of scientometrics, the science of science—how we know what we know. He shows us how knowledge in most fields evolves systematically and predictably and how this evolution can have a powerful impact on our lives.
