Biology | Genetics
Chapter one
Uncertainty in Nature
Matter | Theoretical Physics
A Universe Made of Tiny, Random Chunks
The space-time that makes up our universe is inherently uncertain.
Numbers | Set Theory
The Deepest Uncertainty
When a hypothesis is neither true nor false.
Matter | Quantum Physics
The Rise of the Uncertain
Uncertainty in physics has gone from black sheep to overachiever.
Chapter two
This Uncertain Life
Ideas | Philosophy
Parenthood, the Great Moral Gamble
The decision to have a child is more ethically uncertain than you might realize.
Culture | Fiction
Giving Up Paradise
Lies, high heels, and piety.
Numbers | Information Theory
The Coin Toss and the Love Triangle
There are two flavors of uncertainty in our lives. Math helps with both.
Culture | Perception
Fooled By Your Own Brain
Don’t be so certain your senses are telling you the truth.
Ideas | Theology
The Hidden God
One man’s path to knowing less about God.
Chapter three
Uncertainty for Fun & Profit
Culture | Neuroscience
Composing Your Thoughts
Music that upsets expectations is what makes your gray matter sing.
Culture | Visual Art
When Photographers Are Neuroscientists
Artists who manipulate photos capture the ambiguity—and beauty—of vision itself.
Numbers | Engineering
Joys of Noise
The reliability of some technologies depends on just the right amount of randomness.
Culture | Insurance
How to Insure Against a Rainy Day
Never mind tornadoes—companies now seek shelter from daily weather.
Culture | Fiction
Know When to Hold ’Em
The world is your casino. But bettors beware—the house always wins.
Chapter four
Balancing Uncertainty
Ideas | Epistemology
Why It’s Good To Be Wrong
Nothing obstructs access to the truth like a belief in absolute truthfulness.
Ideas | Philosophy
Ingenious: David Deutsch
The truth will set us free, so long as we remember to challenge it.
Biology | Genetics
My Family’s Decade in Genetic Limbo
Personal DNA testing may yet deliver on its promise.
Numbers | Economics
Taming the Unfriendly Skies
How one airline wrestles with the uncertainty of weather.
Ideas | Philosophy
Certainly Not!
Good science requires cultivating doubt and finding pleasure in mystery.
Culture | Psychology
Learning to Fly
Coping with anxiety in an uncertain world.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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