In Science Outside the Laboratory, Marcel Boumans addresses the less familiar of science's Janus faces-not the realm of detached investigation aimed at eternal truth, but the sources of our understanding for our most urgent quotidian concerns. How can science provide reliable numbers to support decision-making in a messy world? Drawing on a deep well of historical knowledge, Boumans explores the parts of science that are too often taken for granted-quantification, measurement, and observation-and the problems of extracting reliable conclusions from uncertain information. This important book should be read by historians, philosophers, and scientific practitioners alike.