Customer Reviews

Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I cannot understand the negative review by the reader from Oakton. I did not find a "condescending tone" or "patronizing attitiude" anywhere in this book. On the contrary, I have great appreciation for the authors' ability to cover essentially all the fundamentals of modern science in a pleasant and stimulating way. What they have done is to produce a kind of "science for poets" course that would be suitable at the high school or college level. They focus each of the 18 chapters on a single great idea of science, e.g., ch.1 ("The Universe is knowable and preditable."), ch.9 ("Everything is made of quarks and leptons."), ch.16 ("All life is based on the same genetic code.").

Of course this is not as detailed as a textbook, but by the same token, it does not wear you out or stuff you to the gills with more than you can digest. Another very pleasant aspect is the absence of the usual arm-twisting you'd get in a course: none of those bloody, in-your-face "learning objectives," no tests, no homework, no lists to memorize. Since the authors are both college teachers, they showed great restraint and wisdom in shunning that assiduous approach, which most teachers (myself included) tend to deploy in their daily work. They give you enough to develop a broad outline, but not so much as to kill your interest. Three cheers for their demonstration of top-quality science teaching.

P.S. I found a smattering of errors in those few chapters where I was knowledgeable, but these are all minor and will hardly be noticed by most readers, let alone detract from the overall learning experience.

This is an outstanding book. It provides an understanding of the basic scientific phenomena that everybody should know. I'd have to say I came away from this book with more knowledge than from all my high school and college science classes.

This book contains most basic knowledge and skills that almost any average person needs to get through life. This would make an excellent co-text at the middle school level.

Entertaining and insightfully written, this overview is a must read for the average person. It avoids bogging the reader down in technical jargon, and provides a great practical grasp of each of the major branches of science and how they influence our daily lives. Everything you always wanted to know about "how?" but were afraid to ask!

This book gives you as much information as a classroom textbook, but it is a lot more interesting. I felt this was an excellent book because there are not many books that provide as much information as this one and that are actually a good read. I had a hard time putting this book down once I started to read it.

Do you believe the hype about UFOs? Do you think it's just a matter of time until some clever inventor builds a machine that will allow us to reach the nearest star and its planetary system? Are you a believer that God created the entire universe in seven precious days?

If you engage in conversation in a cafeteria, or on the bus/subway, or at a PTA meeting, or at an office work conference, or wherever you happen to meet another individual, what you say about these matters may reflect to others a certain naiveté on you part. Or if you choose to remain silent as I sometimes do, you might feel somewhat stupid.

This would also be true if you feel global warming is a myth, or that the natural selection process of evolution isn't for real, or that science should solve the abortion issue once and for all by telling people when a spirit or soul enters the substance we call a fetus.

If any of the issues I just raised perplex, confuse, or annoy you, then Science Matters is the perfect book for you. This volume will explain in terms anyone can understand, the reasons why it is impossible for humans to ever reach the nearest star and improbable that UFOs could reach our planet.

In terms that any lay person could understand, the book reveals what evidence there is for the Big Bang that brought forth the universe. This is not to short-circuit anyone's belief in a Divine Creator-God, but it may support true believers who know that the Holy Bible is meant to be allegory, not science.

Science Matters can explain how two sex cells unite to develop into a fetus, but cannot scientifically tell when that globule becomes a human being.

This book explains such complicated concepts as the relationship between electricity and magnetism; how what we think we see or feel as solids, liquids, and gases, are made of almost infinitely small particles moving at tremendous speeds; how all life itself is made up of a genetic code. Most importantly, it speaks of the precious interrelationship of all life on earth and our responsibility to preserve it.

The authors of this book have an uncanny ability to take the most complicated concepts, explain them in simple, but realistic terms--often with diagrams. I found the section titled "Particle Zoo" rather comical. They say, "There are so many kinds of elementary particles that sometimes it's hard to tell the players without a scorecard."

When one considers the size of some of these particles, it appears they are, for the most part, wiffs of energy moving about in vast quantities of subatomic space. The conclusion can be drawn that what I typically assume is my desk (a solid), or my diet Coke (a liquid), or the air in my room (a gas), is nothing more than empty space.

I would highly recommend Science Matters, to everyone who loves to learn, who seeks to know. It is extremely easy to read and will make your feel comfortable about topics you've avoided when enjoined in conversation with others. You will not be an expert, but you can appear up-to-date and knowledgeable.

I would suggest that educators use Science Matters as a backup text for many formal classroom physics or chemistry books. You will surely find its explanations, definitions, and diagrams helpful. (Another interesting classroom science book: Punk Science: Inside the Mind of God)

Science raw is a puzzle or a maze.

But understood, can wipe away the haze!

I recently participated in a 50-question science literacy survey and, after scoring 62%, realized I wasn't half the science geek I thought I was. It was a sad day.

Fortunately, there's a cure! I realized that I either didn't know (or had forgotten since school) many of the fundamental principles of science. Determined to improve my literacy, I found this book and, given the generally high reviews, opted to give it a read.

Yes! Science Matters is exactly what I was looking for. It easily restored my understanding of general science topics. There is much in the book I'd previously learned, or known, but had simply forgotten over time. In this regard, the book served as an excellent refresher for material I haven't given much thought to since high school. Additionally, there was plenty of material I simply wasn't aware of, and absorbed eagerly and easily from this book.

If you've ever turned on a light switch, watched the light come on, and said to yourself, "Huh, I wonder how that works?" If you've ever wondered why the Sun shines, why the sky is blue, how nuclear power is generated, why iron rusts, and what all this "quantum" shenanigans is about - read this book. When you're done, go back and re-read some of the news articles about the activities at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, or current discussions about global climate change. You'll find your understanding dramatically improved.

I have no science background except my own reading and after struggling through some higher level science books I thought I should try something more basic as a primer. I wanted something that would be particularly good at introducing the basic laws of physics particularly and that also took into account the complexities (Hiesenberg's uncertainty principle, Einstein's spacetime curvature, etc. and didn't water things down so much that I would miss important qualifications).

This book served its purpose. I was more interested in the physics and chemistry chapters than the earth science, which seemed to stick with me from high school. But, I did read through those as well.

Basic, readable primer for science principles. The version I had was published in 1990 but still seems relatively up to date on the controversies in the field. Seemed to provide a very clear cursory view of basic chemistry, fundamental laws and an introduction to quantum physics. Lots of analogy to help readers understand more difficult concepts. One of the best introductions I've seen that is able to take some really complex stuff and make it readable.

Makes a good read before diving into a more complex science book.

This book is well written and engaging. It is for both scientifically as well as non-scientifically oriented people. It is a must read for anyone wanting to be educated enough to make some informed decisions about science now and in the future.

This is a very good review of basic topics in science, as others have noted. Science is fast-moving and it is not clear that all sections are completely up-to-date. In the book version, the following problem is not an issue, because you can always leaf through the pages easily. The major problem for the Kindle is that there is no index and (thus?) no way to overview and skip from chapter to chapter - you have to go through the book page by page. Books should not be released for Kindles without indexes; it would have been a simple matter to add one. Of course, if a view inside the book had been provided, this omission might have been apparent; as it was, I had to return the book.