<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains content that is written like an advertisement . Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . (February 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The half - life of knowledge or half - life of facts is the amount of time that has to elapse before half of the knowledge or facts in a particular area is superseded or shown to be untrue . These coined terms belong to the field of quantitative analysis of science known as scientometrics . </P> <P> These ideas of half - life applied to different fields differ from the concept of half - life in physics in that there is no guarantee that the knowledge or facts in areas of study are declining exponentially . It is unclear that there is any way to establish what constitutes "knowledge" in a particular area, as opposed to mere opinion or theory . </P> <P> Because scientific knowledge is growing by a factor of ten every 50 years, this means that half of what scientists may have known about a particular subject will be wrong or obsolete in 45 years . </P>

Half life the decay of knowledge and what to do about it