The Nature of Science

by Trefil, James S.

• ISBN13: 9780618319381
• ISBN10: 0618319387
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-14
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

Today science literacy - knowing how the world works, from the microscopic level to the farthest reaches of space - is more important than ever, but finding all the essential information in one place can be a daunting task. Enter The Nature of Science, the ultimate science handbook for the home, explaining in everyday terms the two hundred overarching laws, principles, and mechanisms that make sense of the physical world. Cloning; black holes; Fermat's last theorem; genetic drift; the inflationary universe; Newton's laws of motion; string theories. With lively writing and whimsical analogies, science popularizer James Trefil leads a remarkable A-Z tour through the discovery, significance, and workings of the universe's major laws. Here are some two hundred essays on grand theories, such as Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Mendel's laws of genetics, and on more familiar phenomena, such as how airplanes fly and how polarized sunglasses work. Abundant cross-references make it easy to follow a law's connections across different fields, revealing a web of unifying theories that span the smallest cell and the largest galaxy. Timelines in each essay further spell out the evolution of each law, while biographical sidebars on scientists showcase the often quirky tales of discovery - the human stories behind nature's laws. From atomic theory to Zeno's paradox, The Nature of Science makes understanding science a pleasure. For those who are familiar with the Big Bang (but maybe not the Big Crunch or the Big Splash), this book is essential reading - a key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe.

Author Biography

James Trefil, the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University, is the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Introduction	vii
Preface	xxix
The Laws	1	(419)
Accelerated Motion, equations of	2	(4)
Acid Rain	6	(2)
Acids and Bases, theories of	8	(3)
Allen's Rule	11	(1)
Ampere's Law	12	(2)
Angular Momentum, conservation of	14	(1)
Animal Territoriality	15	(1)
Anthropic Principle	16	(2)
Antibiotics, resistance to	18	(2)
Antiparticles	20	(2)
Archimedes' Principle	22	(1)
Argon, discovery of	23	(1)
Atomic Theory	24	(2)
Aufbau Principle	26	(2)
Avogadro's Law	28	(2)
Balance of Nature	30	(1)
Band Theory of Solids	31	(1)
BCS Theory of Superconductivity	32	(3)
Beauty Criterion	35	(1)
Bell's Theorem	36	(3)
Bernoulli Effect	39	(2)
Big Bang	41	(2)
Biot-Savart Law	43	(2)
Black Holes	45	(3)
Black-Body Radiation	48	(2)
Bohr Atom	50	(2)
Bohr Explanation	52	(2)
Boltzmann Constant	54	(1)
Boyle's Law	55	(1)
Bragg's Law	56	(2)
Brewster's Law	58	(1)
Brownian Motion	59	(2)
Carbon Cycle	61	(2)
Carnot's Principle	63	(2)
Catalysts and Enzymes	65	(1)
Cell Theory	66	(1)
Centrifugal Force	67	(2)
Chandrasekhar Limit	69	(2)
Changes of State	71	(2)
Charles's Law	73	(1)
Chemical Bonds	74	(3)
Cherenkov Radiation	77	(1)
Chronology Protection Conjecture	78	(1)
Circadian Rhythms	79	(1)
Clausius--Clapeyron Equation	80	(1)
Cloning	81	(2)
Coevolution	83	(1)
Cohesion--Tension Theory	84	(1)
Competitive Exclusion, principle of	85	(1)
Complementarity Principle	86	(2)
Complex Adaptive Systems	88	(1)
Compound Motion	89	(3)
Compton Effect	92	(1)
Copernican Principle	93	(2)
Cope's Law	95	(1)
Coriolis Effect	96	(2)
Correspondence Principle	98	(1)
Cosmic Triangle	99	(3)
Cosmological Constant	102	(2)
Coulomb's Law	104	(2)
Curie Point	106	(2)
Curie's Law	108	(1)
Dalton's Law	109	(1)
Dark Matter	110	(3)
Davisson--Germer Experiment	113	(1)
De Broglie Relation	114	(2)
Determinism	116	(2)
Deterministic Chaos	118	(3)
Differential Resource Utilization	121	(1)
Diffraction	122	(1)
Dispersion, atomic theory of	123	(2)
DNA	125	(3)
Doppler Effect	128	(3)
Drake Equation	131	(2)
Early Universe	133	(2)
Ecological Succession	135	(2)
Electrical Charge, conservation of	137	(1)
Electrical Properties of Matter	138	(2)
Electromagnetic Spectrum	140	(4)
Electron, discovery of	144	(2)
Elementary Particles	146	(2)
Equilibrium	148	(2)
Equivalence Principle	150	(1)
Evolution, theory of	151	(7)
Exponential Growth	158	(2)
Faraday's Laws of Electrolysis	160	(1)
Faraday's Laws of Induction	161	(3)
Fermat's Last Theorem	164	(2)
Fermat's Principle	166	(1)
Fermi Paradox	167	(2)
Fibonacci Numbers	169	(1)
Flame Test	170	(1)
Fourier Analysis	171	(1)
Free Electron Theory of Conduction	172	(1)
Gaia Hypothesis	173	(1)
Gauss's Law	174	(2)
Genetic Code	176	(1)
Genetic Drift	177	(1)
Germ Theory of Disease	178	(2)
Giant Impact Hypothesis	180	(1)
Glycolysis and Respiration	181	(3)
Godel's Incompleteness Theorems	184	(2)
Goldbach Conjecture	186	(1)
Graham's Law	187	(1)
Green Revolution	188	(1)
Greenhouse Effect	189	(2)
Hall Effect	191	(1)
Hardy--Weinberg Law	192	(1)
Heat, atomic theory of	193	(1)
Heat Transfer	194	(3)
Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle	197	(5)
Helium, discovery of	202	(2)
Henry's Law	204	(1)
Hershey--Chase Experiment	205	(2)
Hertzsprung--Russell Diagram	207	(2)
Hooke's Law	209	(2)
Hubble's Law	211	(4)
Human Genome Project	215	(2)
Huygens' Principle	217	(1)
Ideal Gas Law	218	(1)
Immune System	219	(2)
Inflationary Universe	221	(2)
Interference	223	(2)
Josephson Effect	225	(1)
Kepler's Laws	226	(4)
Kinetic Theory	230	(2)
Kinship Selection	232	(1)
Kirchhoff-Bunsen Discovery	233	(2)
Kirchhoff's Laws	235	(2)
Lamarckianism	237	(1)
Lawson Criterion	238	(2)
Le Chatelier's Principle	240	(1)
Lenz's Law	241	(1)
``Like Dissolves Like''	242	(1)
Linear Momentum, conservation of	243	(1)
Linnaean System of Classification	244	(2)
MacArthur-Wilson Equilibrium Theory	246	(2)
Magnetic Monopoles	248	(1)
Magnetism	249	(2)
Marginal Value Theorem	251	(2)
Mass Extinctions	253	(2)
Maximum Sustainable Yield	255	(1)
Maxwell's Demon	256	(2)
Maxwell's Equations	258	(2)
Mendel's Laws	260	(2)
Michelson-Morley Experiment	262	(2)
Milankovic Cycles	264	(3)
Miller--Urey Experiment	267	(2)
Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment	269	(2)
Mimicry	271	(2)
Molecular Biology, central dogma of	273	(3)
Molecular Clock	276	(2)
Molecular Orbital Theory	278	(1)
Molecules of Life	279	(3)
Moore's Law	282	(1)
Murphy's Law	283	(2)
Mutuality, principle of	285	(1)
Nebular Hypothesis	286	(3)
Nerve Signals, propagation of	289	(2)
Newton's Law of Gravitation	291	(3)
Newton's Laws of Motion	294	(4)
Nitrogen Cycle	298	(3)
Nuclear Fusion and Fission	301	(2)
Null Hypothesis	303	(1)
Occam's Razor	304	(1)
Octet Rule	305	(1)
Oersted Discovery	306	(1)
Ohm's Law	307	(1)
Olbers' Paradox	308	(1)
``Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny''	309	(1)
Optimal Foraging Theory	310	(1)
Ozone Hole	311	(1)
Pauli Exclusion Principle	312	(2)
Penicillin, discovery of	314	(1)
Periodic Table	315	(2)
Period-Luminosity Relation	317	(1)
Perpetual Motion	318	(1)
Phlogiston	319	(1)
Photoelectric Effect	320	(1)
Photosynthesis	321	(3)
Planck Constant	324	(1)
Plate Tectonics	325	(4)
Predator-Prey Relationships	329	(1)
Proteins	330	(2)
Quantum Chromodynamics	332	(2)
Quantum Mechanics	334	(2)
Quantum Tunneling	336	(2)
Quarks and the Eightfold Way	338	(2)
Radioactive Decay	340	(3)
Radiometric Dating	343	(2)
Rayleigh Criterion	345	(2)
Reflection, law of	347	(1)
Relativity	348	(4)
Reproductive Strategies	352	(1)
Reynolds Number	353	(2)
Robotics, the three laws of	355	(1)
Rock Cycle	356	(2)
Rutherford Experiment	358	(2)
Rydberg Constant	360	(1)
Schrodinger's Equation	361	(3)
Shock Waves	364	(1)
Snell's Law	365	(3)
Social Darwinism	368	(1)
Species--Area Law	369	(1)
Spectroscopy	370	(1)
Spontaneous Generation	371	(1)
Standard Model	372	(3)
States of Matter	375	(1)
Steady-State Theory	376	(1)
Stefan--Boltzmann Law	377	(2)
Stellar Evolution	379	(3)
Stem Cells	382	(1)
Stern--Gerlach Experiment	383	(1)
String Theories	384	(2)
Superposition, law of	386	(2)
Surface Tension	388	(2)
Symbiosis	390	(2)
Terminal Velocity	392	(1)
Theories of Everything	393	(2)
Thermal Expansion, law of	395	(1)
Thermodynamics, first law of	396	(3)
Thermodynamics, second law of	399	(3)
Thermodynamics, third law of	402	(2)
Titius-Bode Law	404	(3)
Triune brain	407	(2)
Turing Test	409	(1)
Tyndall Effect	410	(1)
Uniformitarianism	411	(2)
Urea, synthesis of	413	(1)
Van Helmont Experiment	414	(1)
Vital Force	415	(1)
Water Cycle	416	(1)
Zeeman Effect	417	(1)
Zeno's Paradox	418	(2)
Chronology	420	(4)
Glossary	424	(2)
Index	426