The idea and caption of the book is interesting. However, the way of writing still make me feel that everything is very ambigious… I am not sure whether it is meant to be that way.
Some ideas :
- It turns out that facts, when viewed as a large body of knowledge, are just as predictable. Facts, in the aggregate, have half-lives.
- The growth of knowledge is exponential (By Drek J.de Solla Price) example he finds that it takes about 50 years to double the number of universities. Psychologist Harvey Lehman finds that it takes 87 years for the yearly contribution in medicine and hygiene to be doubled.
- Knowledge in a field can also decay exponentially, shrinking by a constant friction. Example John Hughlings Jackson, a British neurologist say, “It takes 50 years to get a wrong idea out of a medicient and 100 years a right one into medicine.
- Moore’s Law of everything basically talkes about exponential growth in technology. Many economists argue that population growth goes hand in hand with innovation and development of new facts. However, Merton said it depends on the population make-up.
"Daily Tools" Black Book 