‘Profound and utterly absorbing. Kucharski elegantly explores how proof is not just a mathematical concept but a vital tool in decision-making, justice, and survival’ CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN
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 scientific 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.
About the author
Adam Kucharski is a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A mathematician by training, his work on global outbreaks has included Ebola, Zika and COVID-19, and he has advised multiple governments and health agencies. He is a TED senior fellow and winner of the University of Cambridge Adams Prize and the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. His writing has appeared in the The Times, Observer and Financial Times among others, and he has contributed to several documentaries, including BBC Horizon.
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