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Our understanding of the world today is constantly changing. What was once considered truths and facts can, in hindsight, be seen as misguided or wrong. It may be challenging to accept but becomes evident over time that the things we learn today may become irrelevant or superseded in the future and this is particularly relevant to medicine.

Scientometrics is the quantitative study of science and the rate at which change occurs. Today, we discuss this topic with scientist and author Sam Arbesman, to ask the following question: what is the rate of change of facts in the field of medicine?

Our special guest is Sam Arbesman who is a scientist and author of Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension and The Half-Life of Facts.

Our understanding of the world today is constantly changing. What was once considered truths and facts can, in hindsight, be seen as misguided or wrong. It may be challenging to accept but becomes evident over time that the things we learn today may become irrelevant or superseded in the future and this is particularly relevant to medicine.
Scientometrics is the quantitative study of science and the rate at which change occurs. Today, we discuss this topic with scientist and author Sam Arbesman, to ask the following question: what is the rate of change of facts in the field of medicine?
Our special guest is Sam Arbesman who is a scientist and author of Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension and The Half-Life of Facts.

Welcome to the This Medical Life podcast. Our mission is to share stories about the triumphs and tragedies of diseases and illnesses from ancient times up until what we know today. It is about those scientific and medical minds who came before us and how, every single day, we stand on the shoulders of giants. This is a podcast about the stories of medicine.


Hosted by Dr. Travis Brown and Steve Davis, our target audience is General Practitioners, medical students, and other health professionals. We hope to educate, inspire and celebrate those who choose to care for others in their profession. From experience, we know that our audience extends beyond these fields and would like to welcome anyone to listen. The stories of those who came before us are nothing short of remarkable and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Production by Tim Whiffen

Design by Tom Buzz

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