Elizabeth Finkel was in conversation with Joan Leach on Elizabeth's new book 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.

Elizabeth Finkel holds a PhD in biochemistry and spent ten years as a research scientist before becoming an award-winning journalist and author of The Genome Generation, among other books. She is a founding editor of Cosmos magazine and a regular contributor to the US magazine Science, Radio National's Science Show and The Monthly. Her awards include a Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Stem Cells: Controversy at the Frontiers of Science, the National Press Club's award for Higher Education Journalist of the Year and the Eureka Award for Science Journalism.

Professor Joan Leach, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the Australian National University, is a leading global expert in science communication specialising in public engagement with controversial and frontier science and the ethics of science communication. From 2016 to April 2025 Joan was Director, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and is past president of Australian Science Communicators and past Chair of the National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science at the Australian Academy of Science.

The vote of thanks was given by Anna Maria Arabia, Chief Executive, Australian Academy of Science