Certainly Uncertain: The Limitations of Knowledge and the Uncertainty of Belief - Paperback

by Will Swain (Author)

"A thought-provoking deep dive into how we understand the world and what we come to believe about it. Presented with both humor and intellectual rigor. Highly recommend."

-Julianna K. Wilson, Ph.D. Entomology

"Will Swain writes with the kind of curiosity that feels both down to earth and subtly radical. Drawing from decades as a science educator and a lifetime of lived inquiry, this book doesn't tell you what to think-it invites you into a richer, more compassionate understanding of how we come to know, believe, and make meaning."

- Renee Zukin, Educator, Entrepreneur, & Author of Every Day, I'm Brave

Certainly Uncertain is a book about how we attain knowledge and how we form our beliefs. These two topics are amazingly entangled and complicated. This book uses a variety of topics to untangle and illuminate knowledge and belief in fascinating detail without ever getting boring. Swain uses a conversational tone with humor, stories, and research to explore these ideas using a wide array of topics. From bigfoot to neurobiology, Galileo to epigenetics, the notion of free will to the Salem witch trials, this book entertains and offers a blueprint for evaluating our own thinking. The book also offers a path forward to a broader understanding of the beliefs of others.

"Will Swain writes with wit, in an easy-to-read voice. He makes complex ideas understandable and interesting."

- Judd Lyons, Retired Major General and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

"The book was as thought-provoking and clever as it was charming. Swain's ideas and arguments are intellectual, inclusive, and refreshingly insightful . . . and I learned more about Bigfoot than I ever expected!"

- Sean Strain, editor and former vice president of Entrepreneur Press

"Mr. Swain's remarkable book encourages us to critically evaluate our thinking in a cultural environment where facts can be obscured by misinformation and political spin. In this massively entertaining and compelling book, he uses a variety of topics to explore the nature of our beliefs and their relationship to the nature of knowledge itself. I could not put it down."

-Mark St. Andre, Ph.D. Educational Psychology