The half-life of facts - Samuel Arbesman

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.