The Relativity of Wrong
E39696
The Relativity of Wrong is an essay by Isaac Asimov that explains how scientific ideas become progressively less wrong over time, arguing that errors in science are matters of degree rather than absolute falsehood.
Aliases (2)
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
essay
→
non-fiction essay → |
| argues |
discarded theories can still be approximately correct in limited domains
→
no scientific theory is absolutely correct → scientific ideas improve over time → some theories are less wrong than others → |
| author |
Isaac Asimov
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|
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
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|
| criticizes |
view of science as a sequence of total failures
→
|
| emphasizes |
context in evaluating correctness
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incremental improvement of theories → quantitative measures of error → |
| explainsConcept |
approximation in scientific models
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comparison of degrees of wrongness → errors in science are matters of degree → scientific theories become progressively less wrong → |
| field |
history of science
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philosophy of science → |
| genre |
popular science
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science essay → |
| hasPerspective |
pro-science
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realist view of scientific theories → |
| influences |
popular understanding of how science progresses
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|
| language |
English
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|
| mainTheme |
epistemology of science
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nature of scientific error → scientific progress → |
| notableFor |
clear explanation of degrees of error in science
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phrase "relativity of wrong" → |
| oftenCitedIn |
debates about science and pseudoscience
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discussions of scientific method → |
| publicationDecade |
1980s
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|
| relatedConcept |
approximation theory
→
fallibilism → model-dependent accuracy → scientific realism → |
| relatedWorkByAuthor |
The Relativity of Wrong (essay collection)
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|
| supportsView |
science converges toward better approximations of reality
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|
| targetAudience |
general readers
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students of science → |
| usesExample |
Newtonian mechanics vs relativity
→
Ptolemaic astronomy vs Copernican astronomy → flat Earth vs spherical Earth → |
Referenced by (3)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
The Relativity of Wrong
("phrase "relativity of wrong"")
→
|
notableFor |
|
Isaac Asimov
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|
notableWork |
|
The Relativity of Wrong
("The Relativity of Wrong (essay collection)")
→
|
relatedWorkByAuthor |