Proof is a (mostly) layman accessible monograph on scientific certainty and methods, written by Dr. Adam Kucharski. Released 6th May 2025 by Hachette on their Basic Books imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
The author has a wide ranging background: from mathematics to infectious diseases/tropical medicine/epidemiology. This book is similarly wide ranging and not always direct - there's a fair bit of meandering involved. That being said, the author writes well and understandably and doesn't rely on obfuscation and jargon to score points.
Although not academically rigorous, the content is meticulously annotated throughout, and the chapter notes are likely worth the price of the book for the extra content alone. As a multidisciplinary work, there are some wide ranging meanders across disciplines and subjects (and time periods), but overall, it's interesting and fairly engaging. The author is clearly bright, and invested in the subject, and it's indisputably important and noble, helping humans understand how to winnow *actual* facts from the chaff we're all bombarded with continually.
Three and a half stars. It would be a good choice for public or post-secondary school library acquisition, or for niche non-fiction readers.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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