Author of BEYOND BELIEF (2026) | Senior Editor at Nature | Honorary Professor of Practice at UCL | science journalist, author, speaker
"Impeccably researched" & "Pearson pulls off a narrative feat" says a review of Beyond Belief in @nature.com (And no - I didn't have any input into it - didn't even know it was coming out until last week!) 🙏 to reviewer & policy prof Peter John! tinyurl.com/bddynby5 @princetonupress.bsky.social
The rise of evidence-based medicine and the ‘mavericks’ who championed itAn impeccably researched account describes how clinical trials have transformed health and social policy.tinyurl.comWhat does science say about how to reduce risks of dementia? I explored this for @Nature - and found it’s more surprising and debated than you might think. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How to avoid dementia — what the science really saysAmbitious studies have been examining the protective effects of diet, exercise and socializing — with surprising results.www.nature.com"Beyond Belief is an excellent, thorough, and balanced guide," writes @philipcball.bsky.social in his lovely review in @thelancet.com. "For anyone ... fed up with being told “that's how we’ve always done it”, Pearson's book offers all the ammunition you need." Thank you! tinyurl.com/38pwc3up
The ascent of evidence-based medicineTo anyone trained in the natural sciences, the phrase “evidence-based medicine”, which
became popular in the 1990s, might sound peculiar. What else would medicine be based
on if not evidence that a tr...www.thelancet.comPhilip BallHere is my review for @thelancet.com of the excellent Beyond Belief by @helenpearson.bsky.social, on the rise of evidence-based decision making in medicine, social policy, policing, education and more. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
A pleasure to speak about my book BEYOND BELIEF and #evidence with @thedissenteryt.bsky.social - podcast and video now out! @princetonupress.bsky.social
The DissenterNew episode (1273), with Helen Pearson (@helenpearson.bsky.social). We talk about her great book, Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works. #Science YouTube: youtu.be/uClYNGPwfco Podcast: tinyurl.com/m7yehm3h
Paper mill cancer studies get twice the citations as genuine papers, according to a preprint study. Story from: @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Paper mill cancer studies get double the number of citations as genuine papersPotentially fraudulent papers often cite each other and could be inflating the impact factor of journals in which they are published.www.nature.comNEW: Is there a 'crisis' of public trust in science? It can feel that way — with attacks on research in the US and growing rejection of vaccines. I investigated for @nature.com - and found some surprises. My feature article is out today and a short🧵here www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising storySome say there’s a global crisis of trust — but research reveals where the real problems lie.www.nature.comHuge congratulations to Martin Ince for this deserved award, for all he’s done to illuminate science policy and support science journalism. And many congratulations to all the @absw.bsky.social award winners from this evening! 🏆
ABSW#ABSWawards 🏅And the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to... Martin Ince, freelance science & education writer For his excellent contribution to the understanding of science and science policy, through his many books. And for his dedication to ABSW and its mission. 1/2
How nice: BEYOND BELIEF is one of the Financial Times' Best Summer Books 😎 That's right: you can even read it on the beach! Thank you FT columnist @anjahuja.bsky.social for this fantastic recommendation. Pack a copy in your suitcase! www.ft.com/content/7839...
Best summer books of 2026: Sport, Health and WellnessSimon Kuper and Anjana Ahuja select their best mid-year readswww.ft.comGreat to read @philipcball.bsky.social's fascinating @nature.com story about how biology cleverly masks otherwise harmful mutations with buffering proteins (poster child: HSP90) - and new work examining their roles in more detail than ever www.nature.com/articles/d41...
These ‘master’ proteins protect us from deadly mutations — and could inspire new drugsBiology has clever ways to mask the effects of potentially harmful gene mutations. Scientists are investigating how this ‘buffering’ works — and how to exploit it.www.nature.comI'm speaking at #LSEFestival on Saturday - with stellar science/data journalists @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and David Shukman - about Why Evidence Matters 2-3pm LSE Tickets free (in person or attend online) & I'm signing BEYOND BELIEF after! 📘 www.lse.ac.uk/events/lse-f... @princetonupress.bsky.social
Why evidence matters | Expert panel at LSE Festival3:30pm Sat 20 Jun | John Burn-Murdoch, Helen Pearson, David Shukman | Ticket requiredwww.lse.ac.ukSuch a pleasure to talk about my book BEYOND BELIEF with @spencrgreenberg.bsky.social on his Clearer Thinking podcast: The Hidden History of Evidence-based Everything! (Clearly the title I should have used for the book!) @princetonupress.bsky.social podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/315/...
ClearerThinking.org Podcast | The Hidden History of Evidence-Based Everything (with Helen Pearson)How do we know whether the things we do every day actually work? Why do so many practices in medicine, parenting, education, conservation, and public policy begin as intuition, authority, or anecdote ...podcast.clearerthinking.orgFascinating: ten maths researchers each provided a question that they had solved in the course of their own research but had not yet published (so it was not included in training data). Three of the questions stumped every AI competitor by @castelvecchi.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Humans outperform AI at this highly rigorous mathematics testA new benchmark pitting AI against previously unseen maths problems shows that systems still fall short of top human expertise.www.nature.comMy interview with @alokjha.bsky.social for the @economist.com Babbage podcast is out! The episode explores how scientists try to build consensus by synthesising evidence and how to navigate confusing, social-media-driven health advice. tinyurl.com/bdefcbwa @princetonupress.bsky.social
Influencers v evidence-based medicine (part two)Our podcast on science and technology. In the second of two episodes on health misinformation, journalist and author Helen Pearson explains how to learn who to trusttinyurl.comA rough @nature.com poll of >1,900 researchers found: ~48% feel negative towards AI 63% say that risks for data analysis outweigh benefits ~60% felt AI FOMO: that they would be left behind if they did not use AI tools in their work. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Scientists have a bad case of AI FOMO, Nature poll revealsAlmost half of the scientists who responded said that they feel broadly negative towards artificial intelligence, but they think that some tools are better than others.www.nature.com