Grounds. How We Know and Why We Can Be Wrong

How do we know that a measurement is reliable, a definition fits, or a proof establishes what it claims? Grounds follows Dana and Timur through everyday disputes and examples from science, mathematics, language and music to explore the grounds for our answers. A workshop measurement, Mendel’s peas, Pluto’s changing classification, a poem read aloud and a triangle on paper reveal different ways of making a claim precise and checking whether its grounds hold. The book distinguishes evidence from confidence, models from the things they describe, and a justified belief from knowledge. It asks which conditions an answer depends on, what information could change it, and how to revise a conclusion without losing what was learned. Written for curious readers without specialist training, this illustrated first English edition connects practical questions with epistemology and the philosophy of science. It is free to read, share, translate and adapt under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Edition 2026.10. Editorial revision 2026-10-10. By Rifat Jumagulov. Published by Arxo.

Canonical edition: https://books.arxo.io/grounds/

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/