No One Knows What They're Doing

Do you pretend to be more certain than you are?

All of us, as children, eventually experience the vertigo-inducing moment when we realise that the adults we assumed knew more than we do, are actually just like us: full of doubt, and making it up as they go along.

Certainty is attractive, reassuring. From politicians to podcasters, medical practitioners to optimisation bros – and of course, mathematicians – certainty is where we feel comfortable.

In her new book, Hannah Fry shows us that there is another way. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING explores the dark landscape of doubt, and the scientists and statisticians who recognise how to harness its power. From the eighteenth century explorers and European mapmakers convinced of the existence of a range of entirely imaginary mountains in West Africa, to the people willing to give themselves electric shocks rather than prolong uncertainty, to the unknowability of quantum physics, and the mathematics of catastrophe, this is a book about embracing uncertainty as a superpower, both in our personal lives and as a society, by a mathematician who is also one of the foremost science communicators of her generation.

Doubt may be the most powerful tool we possess.

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Praise for Hello World by Hannah Fry, one of the ‘Best Books of the Year’ in The Times, Financial Times, Guardian and New Scientist

‘Brilliantly clear...Fry succinctly outlines the ethical issues that beset AI.’ - James McConnaiche, Sunday Times

‘With refreshing simplicity, Fry explains what AI, machine learning and complicated algorithms really mean …This book illustrates why good science writers are essential.’ - Katy Guest, Guardian

‘Stylish, thoughtful, and scrupulously fair-minded account... A beautifully accessible guide that leaps lightly from one story to the next without sparing the reader hard questions... deserves a place in the bestseller charts.’ - Oliver Moody, The Times

‘Hannah Fry is quickly becoming the David Attenborough of maths.’ - Guy Kelly, Telegraph