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Prove It: A Scientific Guide for the Post-Truth Era
A compelling journey through science's big breakthroughs, by an award-winning Australian science writer
Humans developed the scientific method over centuries. Its departure from what came before was that theories should be fuelled by data, not opinion. Today, the institutions that underpin democracy – the law, academia, government, journalism – all rely on its central idea: seeking facts and interrogating them through robust discussion and real-world testing. Yet in the post-truth era, public conversations can feel far from scientific.
In Prove It, Elizabeth Finkel describes how the scientific method plays out in a series of controversies, from proving the existence of Einstein’s gravitational waves to identifying the origins of Covid-19, from understanding human origins to defining consciousness. Through these tales of dispute and discovery, she breaks down the key elements of scientific thinking.
Full of politics, prejudice, obsession, heroism and eccentricity, Prove It captures the drama and excitement of scientific discovery and debate and argues compellingly that its lessons are more crucial now than ever.
Humans developed the scientific method over centuries. Its departure from what came before was that theories should be fuelled by data, not opinion. Today, the institutions that underpin democracy – the law, academia, government, journalism – all rely on its central idea: seeking facts and interrogating them through robust discussion and real-world testing. Yet in the post-truth era, public conversations can feel far from scientific.
In Prove It, Elizabeth Finkel describes how the scientific method plays out in a series of controversies, from proving the existence of Einstein’s gravitational waves to identifying the origins of Covid-19, from understanding human origins to defining consciousness. Through these tales of dispute and discovery, she breaks down the key elements of scientific thinking.
Full of politics, prejudice, obsession, heroism and eccentricity, Prove It captures the drama and excitement of scientific discovery and debate and argues compellingly that its lessons are more crucial now than ever.
- GenresNonfictionScience
322 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 7, 2025
a must read for this day and age
September 9, 2025
[Review for Tasmanian Times]
Elizabeth Finkel’s latest book “Prove It – A Scientific Guide for the Post-Truth Era,” provides readers with a fascinating set of stories about how science works in some of the most contentious and controversial areas.
“What distinguishes science from conspiracy is that science rejects assertions that fail to clear the bar of evidence.”
It uncovers the truths about COVID’s origins, digs deep on whether medicine is science or art, looks at whether humans really originated in Africa, asks where the seat of our consciousness lies, and takes us to the ends of the universe to find the proofs for gravitational waves.
‘Prove It’ is, in short, brilliant, highly readable and incredibly relevant in an era where the President of the United States is shutting down scientific research, giving tyrannical powers over healthcare to an anti-vaxxer, and sacking anyone who speaks truth to power or who is insufficiently loyal.
As the disenfranchised margins of our cultures are lured by parasitic social media influencers, dazed by disinformation, and attracted to the certainties peddled by Newscorp and Far-right proxies for the corporate sector like the Advance Australia organisation, conspiracy theories are on the rise, and science is the enemy.
Vaccines, which save millions, are demonised as ‘deadly’, the science helping us understand climate is said to be a ‘hoax’, the inequities of global capital are ignored and replaced with claims of a secret ‘deep state’ and ‘global control by Jewish bankers’.
These beliefs are used by politicians on the Right to leverage their own agendas of power and influence, who wage war on science, claiming to supplant it with ‘choice’, ‘freedom from censorship’ and the primacy of ‘personal truth’ so that they, and only they can be trusted purveyors of truth.
Meanwhile, RFK Jnr is dismantling vaccine production and preparedness for the next pandemic. His delusional, anti-science dictates will cause deaths on a vast scale before he and his cronies are thrown out, and the US rediscovers science.
But where the US leads, Australia follows, so Finkel’s book couldn’t be more critical here in helping understand what science actually is and does, how it fails and how it will always self-correct.
You don’t have to ‘believe’ or trust science as the only ‘truth’, because science isn’t about proving things; science is about discovering better questions and evidence to challenge standing theory.
Truth is always conditional.
“Our health, our agriculture, our environmental safety, our ability to ameliorate and adapt to climate change, to regulate AI and to fight the next pandemic – all of these rely on our scientific system functioning as we know it must: through the generation of evidence, and rigorous testing of that evidence.”
Elizabeth Finkel’s latest book “Prove It – A Scientific Guide for the Post-Truth Era,” provides readers with a fascinating set of stories about how science works in some of the most contentious and controversial areas.
“What distinguishes science from conspiracy is that science rejects assertions that fail to clear the bar of evidence.”
It uncovers the truths about COVID’s origins, digs deep on whether medicine is science or art, looks at whether humans really originated in Africa, asks where the seat of our consciousness lies, and takes us to the ends of the universe to find the proofs for gravitational waves.
‘Prove It’ is, in short, brilliant, highly readable and incredibly relevant in an era where the President of the United States is shutting down scientific research, giving tyrannical powers over healthcare to an anti-vaxxer, and sacking anyone who speaks truth to power or who is insufficiently loyal.
As the disenfranchised margins of our cultures are lured by parasitic social media influencers, dazed by disinformation, and attracted to the certainties peddled by Newscorp and Far-right proxies for the corporate sector like the Advance Australia organisation, conspiracy theories are on the rise, and science is the enemy.
Vaccines, which save millions, are demonised as ‘deadly’, the science helping us understand climate is said to be a ‘hoax’, the inequities of global capital are ignored and replaced with claims of a secret ‘deep state’ and ‘global control by Jewish bankers’.
These beliefs are used by politicians on the Right to leverage their own agendas of power and influence, who wage war on science, claiming to supplant it with ‘choice’, ‘freedom from censorship’ and the primacy of ‘personal truth’ so that they, and only they can be trusted purveyors of truth.
Meanwhile, RFK Jnr is dismantling vaccine production and preparedness for the next pandemic. His delusional, anti-science dictates will cause deaths on a vast scale before he and his cronies are thrown out, and the US rediscovers science.
But where the US leads, Australia follows, so Finkel’s book couldn’t be more critical here in helping understand what science actually is and does, how it fails and how it will always self-correct.
You don’t have to ‘believe’ or trust science as the only ‘truth’, because science isn’t about proving things; science is about discovering better questions and evidence to challenge standing theory.
Truth is always conditional.
“Our health, our agriculture, our environmental safety, our ability to ameliorate and adapt to climate change, to regulate AI and to fight the next pandemic – all of these rely on our scientific system functioning as we know it must: through the generation of evidence, and rigorous testing of that evidence.”
October 12, 2025
A very readable dive into how science advances our understanding. The book uses COVID, evolution, medicine, consciousness, and gravitational waves to demonstrate how different approaches help uncover deeper truths. It is both a great review of these well documented areas and a reminder of how difficult each approach can be.
Finkel keeps the call to arms for science in the intro and epilogue. This worked well for me. Both are almost standalone essays on the current threats to science. They bookend examples that convey the need for scientific institutions. I would have appreciated a bit more on the importance of funding and the costs associated with research. This would have strengthened arguments on the role of government.
I recommend for anyone interested in how science progresses and the topics themselves.
Finkel keeps the call to arms for science in the intro and epilogue. This worked well for me. Both are almost standalone essays on the current threats to science. They bookend examples that convey the need for scientific institutions. I would have appreciated a bit more on the importance of funding and the costs associated with research. This would have strengthened arguments on the role of government.
I recommend for anyone interested in how science progresses and the topics themselves.
October 28, 2025
Good stuff! This Australian author mounts a defence of the scientific method, specifically evidence-based theories. In this increasingly conspiracy-based world of ‘alternative facts’, Ms Finkel offers several examples of ‘follow the evidence’, starting with Covid-19. She also has (large) chapters on human origins, medical science, human consciousness and gravitational waves. Some of her theories and reasoning went over my head, but in all cases, she followed the science.
A good book for our times. Might upgrade her to 4.5/5.
A good book for our times. Might upgrade her to 4.5/5.
October 14, 2025
In a world where increasing misinformation and disinformation too often lead to poor decisions by institutions and individuals, this book reminds us of the usefulness of science in finding the truth. The examples of scientific issues the author describes in detail are fascinating and show the complexity of the issues, the rigorous approach to data and analysis and the breadth of debate in the scientific community.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews