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James S. Trefil (born September 10, 1938) is an American physicist (Ph.D. in Physics at Stanford University in 1966) and author of more than thirty books. Much of his published work focuses on science for the general audience. Dr. Trefil has previously served as Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia and he now teaches as Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University. Among Trefil's books is Are We Unique?, an argument for human uniqueness in which he questions the comparisons between human intelligence and artificial intelligence. Trefil also regularly gives presentations to judges and public officials about the intersections between science and the law.
1 Science: A Way of Knowing 1
How do you know what you know?
The Role of Science 2
The Scientific Method 4
Other Ways of Knowing 12
The Organization of Science 14
2 The Ordered Universe 25
Why do planets appear to wander slowly across the sky?
The Night Sky 26
The Birth of Mechanics 32
Isaac Newton and the Universal Laws of Motion 38
Momentum 42
The Universal Force of Gravity 44
3 Energy 51
Why must animals eat to stay alive?
The Great Chain of Energy 52
Forms of Energy 56
The Interchangeability of Energy 60
The First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy is Conserved 64
The United States and Its Energy Future 66
4 Heat and the Second Law of Thermodynamics 76
Why is it easier to make an omelet from an egg than to make an egg from an omelet?
Nature’s Direction 77
Coming to Terms with Heat 78
Heat Transfer 81
The Second Law of Thermodynamics 86
Consequences of the Second Law 92
5 Electricity and Magnetism 98
What is lightning?
Nature’s Other Forces 99
Static Electricity 100
Magnetism 103
Batteries and Electric Circuits 106
Connections Between Electricity and Magnetism 113
Electrical Effects from Magnetism 115
6 Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation 123
What is color?
The Nature of Waves 124
The Electromagnetic Wave 131
The Electromagnetic Spectrum 137
7 Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity 150
Can a human ever travel faster than the speed of light, at “warp speed”?
Frames of Reference 151
Special Relativity 154
General Relativity 161
8 The Atom 171
Why are there so many different materials in the world?
The Smallest Pieces 172
The Structure of the Atom 177
When Matter Meets Light 179
Spectroscopy 181
9 Quantum Mechanics 192
How can the electron behave like both a particle and a wave?
The World of the Very Small 193
Probabilities 197
Wave-Particle Duality 198
Wave-Particle Duality and the Bohr Atom 200
Quantum Entanglement 202
10 Atoms in Combination: The Chemical Bond 208
How does blood clot?
Our Material World 209
Electron Shells and Chemical Bonds 210
Types of Chemical Bonds 211
Chemical Reactions and the Formation of Chemical Bonds 223
Common Chemical Reactions 226
Building Molecules: The Hydrocarbons 232
11 Materials and Their Properties 240
How have computers gotten so much faster?
Materials and the Modern World 241
The Strengths of Materials 242
Magnetic Properties of Materials 248
Microchips and the Information Revolution 249
Information 255
12 The Nucleus of the Atom 263
How do scientists determine the age of the oldest human fossils?
Empty Space, Explosive Energy 264
The Organization of the Nucleus 266
Radioactivity 269
Energy from the Nucleus 278
13 The Ultimate Structure of Matter 287
How can antimatter be used to probe the human brain?
Of What is the Universe Made? 288
Discovering Elementary Particles 290
The Elementary Particle Zoo 294
The Four Fundamental Forces 297
Quantum Gravity, Strings, and Theories of Everything 301
14 The Stars 306
How much longer can the Sun sustain life on Earth?
The Nature of Stars 307
The Anatomy of Stars 311
The Variety of Stars 316
The Life Cycles of Stars 318
15 Cosmology 328
Will the universe end?
Edwin Hubble and the Discovery of Galaxies 329
The Redshift and Hubble’s Law 332
The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe 334
The Evolution of the Universe 339
Of What is the Universe Made? 342
16 Earth and Other Planets 350
Is Earth the only planet with life?
The Formation of the Solar System 351
The Nebular Hypothesis 354
Exploring the Solar System 361
Extrasolar Planets 369
17 Plate Tectonics 376
Can we predict destructive earthquakes?
Dynamic Earth 377
Plate Tectonics: A Unifying View of Earth 385
Another Look at Volcanoes and Earthquakes 392
18 Earth’s Many Cycles 400
Will we ever run out of fresh water?
Cycles Small and Large 401
The Hydrologic Cycle 403
The Atmospheric Cycle 410
The Rock Cycle 416
19 Ecology, Ecosystems, and the Environment 427
Are human activities affecting the global environment?
Ecology and Ecosystems 428
The Law of Unintended Consequences 432
Threats to the Global Ecosystem and Environment 434
Debates about Global Climate Change 442
20 Strategies of Life 449
The Organization of Living Things 450
What is Life? 452
Classifying Living Things 454
Survival: A New Look at the Life Around You 460
21 The Living Cell 474
What is the smallest living thing?
The Nature and Variety of Cells 475
The Cell Theory 476
How Does a Cell Work? 478
Metabolism: Energy and Life 484
Cell Division 488
22 Molecules of Life 494
What constitutes a healthy diet?
Organic Molecules 495
Proteins: The Workhorses of Life 498
Proteins as Enzymes 500
Carbohydrates 503
Lipids 505
Minerals and Vitamins 508
23 Classical and Modern Genetics 514
Why do offspring resemble their parents?
Classical Genetics 515
DNA and the Birth of Molecular Genetics 519
The Genetic Code 522
Viruses 527
The Human Genome 529
24 The New Science of Life 537
Can we cure cancer?
Genetic Engineering 538
DNA Fingerprinting 542
Stem Cells, Cloning, and Regenerative Medicine 543
Cancer—A Different Kind of Genetic Disease 546
Gene Therapy 548
DNA Repair in the Cell 549
Birth of Genomic Science 550
Unraveling the Past: Mitochondrial DNA 552
25 Evolution 559
How did life emerge on the ancient Earth?
The Fact of Evolution 560
Chemical Evolution 564
The Window of Opportunity 566
Natural Selection and the Development of Complex Life 569
The Story of Life 572
The Evolution of Human Beings 578
Glossary G-1
Index I-1
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