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Investigation
How do we know what we know?
The probe is nearly silent across the radio spectrum. It has still been yielding information for ninety-three years, because science is observation, and careful observation keeps taking more out of an object than it appeared to hold.
Physics · Epistemology · Measurement
The evidence
Suggested reading path
01Established KnowledgeThe Object Is Not SilentIt transmits nothing across the radio spectrum. It has been broadcasting continuously since 2171. Both statements are true, and the difference between them is what science actually is.02Established KnowledgeThe Error Belongs to UsEvery measurement is a number plus an admission of how wrong it might be. Improve the instrument, and the irregularities you were blaming on the object often turn out to have been yours.03Established KnowledgeRatios Have No UnitsThe meter is a human decision. The ratio of two lengths is not. That is why the object's information is stored in relationships rather than in quantities.04Established KnowledgeNewton Was Not WrongEinstein did not discard Newton. He showed where Newton's equations are an extraordinarily accurate approximation — and where they quietly stop being one.05Established KnowledgeThe Standard Model Is Brilliant — and IncompleteOur most precisely tested theory advertises its own unfinished edges.06Plausible ExtrapolationEvery Telescope Makes the Universe StrangerHubble, Webb, Roman, and — in the novel — the Ariadne Array. Each answered old questions by exposing harder ones.
Questions to think about
Keep arguing
- — What is the difference between an object being silent and our instruments being deaf?
- — How would you tell a real signal from a property of your own equipment?
- — If every model is approximate, what makes one better than another?
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