The Half-Life of Facts
Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date
by Samuel Arbesman
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“@jlinowski @mcmillanstu this is the idea of halflife of things... as well as "science"... facts change great book on the topic | Every book that helps understand better how old paradigms are replaced by new ones is a huge addition to our research on #digitalhealth. That's why I liked The HalfLife of Facts. It describes how facts and knowledge change over time. A mustread in the age of fake news! | I reread @arbesman's book The HalfLife of Facts and I gotta say it's included in the category @patrick_oshag talks about of books that fundamentally changed how I think about stuff.”
Source →“@jlinowski @mcmillanstu this is the idea of halflife of things... as well as "science"... facts change great book on the topic | Every book that helps understand better how old paradigms are replaced by new ones is a huge addition to our research on #digitalhealth. That's why I liked The HalfLife of Facts. It describes how facts and knowledge change over time. A mustread in the age of fake news! | I reread @arbesman's book The HalfLife of Facts and I gotta say it's included in the category @patrick_oshag talks about of books that fundamentally changed how I think about stuff.”
Source →Recommended by 4 notable people, including Morgan Housel and Berci Meskó
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Philosophy, Science, and Social Sciences.
New insights from the science of science Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur. In short, what we know about the world is constantly changing. Samuel Arbesman shows us how knowledge in most fields evolves ...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 4 sources and appears in Philosophy, Science, and Social Sciences.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
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Morgan Housel
“@jlinowski @mcmillanstu this is the idea of halflife of things... as well as "science"... facts change great book on the topic | Every book that helps understand better how old paradigms are replaced by new ones is a huge addition to our research on #digitalhealth. That's why I liked The HalfLife of Facts. It describes how facts and knowledge change over time. A mustread in the age of fake news! | I reread @arbesman's book The HalfLife of Facts and I gotta say it's included in the category @patrick_oshag talks about of books that fundamentally changed how I think about stuff.”
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Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
The Half-Life of Facts
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