From Uncertainly Exact to Certainly Vague: Epistemic Uncertainty and Approximation in Science and Engineering Problem Solving

Epistemic uncertainty is a huge area of scholarship. It has captured the minds of scholars in psychology and many domain-specific studies of reasoning and problem solving. What does it mean to resolve uncertainty? This chapter explores the idea that resolution of uncertainty in complex science and engineering fields frequently ends with approximations rather than precise answers. The chapter begins by examining language to motivate the core Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Volume 53 # 2010 Elsevier Inc. ISSN 0079-7421, DOI: 10.1016/S0079-7421(10)53006-8 All rights reserved. 227 Author's personal copy