The book is designed to show that the public and professional understanding of science is somewhat biased, and error, failure and mistake play a more substantial role than usually conceived. Trust in science should be grounded in acknowledging that only through repeated experiments, trial and error, research and development scientists can produce reliable knowledge. This book presents cases that are considered dead ends, failures, and not only points out the heuristic value of failure but also emphasizes the nonlinearity of knowledge production in different domains and perspectives. It focuses on the epistemic, philosophical, practical, theoretical, and institutional consequences of error and fosters dialogues between philosophers, historians, and scientists, representing contemporary thinking about science. This book is thus of great interest to philosophers, sociologists, and historians.

Alexandra Karakas is an assistant lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and History of Science at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. She received her PhD in 2023 with a dissertation titled Technical Artefacts and the Problem of Malfunction, which examines the meaning, significance, and typology of malfunction in scientific practice. She is currently working on a monograph on malfunction. Her research interests lie in the history and philosophy of science, with a particular focus on the material and visual culture of science.

Adam Tamas Tuboly was leader of the MTA Lendület Values and Science Research Group, and he is senior researcher at the Department of Behavioural Sciences at the Medical School of the University of Pécs. He is interested in the history of philosophy of science, and in the relations between science and pseudoscience. He has edited and written several volumes on these topics.