by Steve Miller
Publisher: Marie Butler-Knight
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Book Details
Price
|
3.00 |
|---|---|
Pages
| 370 p |
File Size
|
8,002 KB |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 978-1-4406-5199-1 |
Copyright©
| 2008 by Steve Miller |
The book is organized in six parts. Part 1 is an overview of science, what it is, who
does it, and why. This part also includes a brief summary of some of the big ideas, or
theories, that drive scientific research today
Parts 2 through 5 look at broad areas of science by asking and answering questions.
The parts are broken down into physical sciences, biological sciences, earth and space
sciences, and technology. In reality, these categories are just an organizing tool. Scientific
research cannot be contained in such neat groups. Biology, physics, earth science,
and medicine all overlap one another when the time comes to find the answer
to a question.
Part 6 takes a look at where science has come from and where it is going. It covers
some of the basic ideas that define how we see the world today, a few of the more
well-known scientists among the vast number who have built our base of scientific
knowledge, and a look at where the answers to today’s questions may lead us. The
appendix includes lists of places to look for more answers in science.
Despite the title, this is not really the science of everything. This book looks at a
broad sampling of questions about science. Behind each answer is a lot of scientific
research. In the end, the how and why of everything boils down to observation and
understanding. I have tried to use these to answer the how and why.
Introduction
Did you ever wonder how somebody ever figured out all the details of making a cellphone
system work? What about those giant MRI machines that can take a picture of
your insides without a single incision? Then there is the universe. We think we know
at least something about how it started billions of years ago and where it’s going billions
of years in the future. How can we possibly know anything about an event that
occurred 14 billion years ago?
Science is too often presented either as a huge database of facts or as an endeavor that
is open only to a highly educated group of elite thinkers. It is neither of these. In its
essence, science is a process, a way of looking at a question and finding an answer.
Step-by-step, scientists look at a problem and ask, “How can I test this to see if it is
true?” Asking one question at a time, they have built a body of knowledge too vast to
be held in single library.
Although there is the occasional giant breakthrough, in which one person’s insight
changes the way we look at things, these are rare and momentous events—Newton
and gravity, Darwin and natural selection, Einstein and relativity. And yet even Newton,
whose insight stands out among the greatest of scientists, said “If I have seen farther,
it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
No one person set out to build a cell-phone system. It grew in tiny increments. Long
ago, scientists found that radio waves could be transmitted and detected. Others figured
out how to modulate those waves in order to reproduce a voice. Miniaturization
of electronics with the invention of the transistor played a role. Circuit-printing techniques,
battery technologies, digitized signals sorted by computers—each piece of the
puzzle came from a different direction.
In this book, I have tried to show some of the background to science questions. To
understand why the sky is blue, you have to know a little bit about light and something
about the atmosphere. Once you know how the two things work together, the
color to the sky makes sense. And it’s also clear why the sky isn’t always blue.
Table of Contents
Is science a natural human activity? ..............................................4
There’s a Method in That Science ................................................5
Who does Science? ........................................................................6
Science as a Search for Knowledge .................................................7
Science and Technology ..................................................................8
Everyone Can Understand Scientific Ideas ...................................8
What to Watch Out For ................................................................9
Getting It Right and Getting It Wrong in the News .................... 10
How Statistics Come into Play .................................................... 11
Science Is Always Changing ........................................................ 11
Sorry, but That Is Not Science .................................................... 12
What is a scientific theory? ......................................................... 16
A Few Theories That May Sound Familiar ............................... 17
Evolution (Life Is Change) .......................................................... 17
Global Climate Change (Not Just Warming) ............................ 19
Plate Tectonics .............................................................................22
Relativity: Easier to Understand Than You Think .................... 23
String Theory ............................................................................. 25
Chaos Theory (That Butterfly in Brazil) ....................................26
How do spacecraft reach the moon if they use most of
their fuel leaving Earth? ............................................................30
How do airbags protect automobile passengers? ........................ 31
Can you really move Earth with a long enough lever? .............. 32
Why does an extension bar make a wrench work better? ..........34
Why do figure skaters spin faster when they pull their
arms in? ...................................................................................... 35
What keeps riders in their seats on a looping roller coaster? ......36
How does the space station stay in orbit? ...................................38
Why can’t you cool the kitchen by opening the refrigerator? .....40
What is the difference between AC and DC
electric current? ......................................................................... 41
Why is the sky blue? ....................................................................44
Why does a spoon in a glass of water seem to bend? ................. 45
Why does the pavement ahead look wet on a hot, dry day? ......47
What makes a rainbow move as you drive? ................................48
Why do colored objects look different under
different lighting? .......................................................................49
Why do you see lightning before you hear thunder? ................. 51
What causes an echo and why can’t you hear one in your
living room? ...............................................................................53
Why does the sound of a racecar engine change as it passes? ...54
What is the shape of a raindrop? .................................................58
Why does a bicycle pump get hot when you inflate a tire? ........59
Why does an oil tanker float? ..................................................... 61
How does a submarine rise and submerge? ................................62
How do hot air balloons and helium balloons rise in the air? .....63
How can an airplane that weighs many tons stay in the air? ...... 64
Why do your ears pop during takeoff and landing? ..................66
Does quicksand really pull people under? ...................................67
Why is it more important to paint steel than aluminum? .........70
Why do snowflakes have six sides or points? .............................. 71
Why does dry ice not melt like regular ice? ...............................72
How do synthetic diamonds differ from real diamonds? ...........73
What is the most abundant element? .......................................... 74
Is jet fuel more dangerous than gasoline? ................................... 76
Why do apple slices turn brown? ................................................77
How can lightweight body armor stop a bullet? .........................78
Why does spreading salt keep a road free of ice? .......................82
Why does a rug feel warmer than a tile floor? ...........................83
How can diamond and graphite both be pure carbon? ..............84
How do soaps and detergents work? ...........................................86
How are different colors produced in fireworks? .......................87
What causes popcorn to pop?......................................................89
How can carbon be used to find the age of an object? ............... 91
How do fireflies make flashes of light? .......................................96
Why don’t batteries work well when they are cold? ...................97
Why do bronze statues turn green over time? ...........................98
How can a gecko walk across a ceiling? ....................................100
What causes concrete to get hard? ............................................ 101
How do heat packs work? .......................................................... 102
Why don’t matches ignite in the box? .......................................104
How can a grain silo explode? ................................................... 105
How does sunscreen work? ........................................................ 106
Are bacteria plants or animals?.................................................. 112
Are viruses alive? ........................................................................ 114
Why don’t evergreens lose their needles in winter? ................. 115
Why are most plants green? ...................................................... 116
How do chameleons change color? ........................................... 117
What is the oldest living thing on Earth? ................................ 118
How can grasshoppers jump so far? .......................................... 119
Why are moths attracted to light? ............................................ 120
Does a camel really store water in its hump? ............................ 121
Why are fossil shark teeth common but not
shark skeletons? ........................................................................ 122
Why do animals migrate? .......................................................... 123
Why are there different types of blood? ................................... 126
Why is it impossible to go without sleep? ................................. 128
Why doesn’t it hurt to cut your hair and fingernails? .............. 129
Why doesn’t stomach acid dissolve the stomach itself?............ 130
How many different types of taste can you sense? ................... 131
What causes jet lag? ................................................................... 132
If humans don’t need an appendix, why do we have one? .........134
Why do women live longer than men? ..................................... 135
What is the purpose of DNA? ................................................... 138
Why can’t two parents with blue eyes have a child with
brown eyes? .............................................................................. 139
Do all dogs belong to the same species? ................................... 140
What was the purpose of the Human Genome Project? ......... 141
How does cloning work? ............................................................ 143
Can humans be cloned to produce copies of people? ...............144
How does human DNA compare to animal and
plant DNA? .............................................................................. 145
Why are some genetic diseases more common in men
than in women? ........................................................................ 146
How do DNA tests work? .......................................................... 147
Can DNA analysis be used for anything other than
criminal investigation? ............................................................. 148
How do paternity tests work? .................................................... 149
Why do we need vitamins? ........................................................ 151
Is cholesterol really bad for you? ............................................... 153
Do spicy foods cause stomach ulcers? ....................................... 155
How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? .................... 156
Why do flu epidemics seem to start in Asia? ............................ 158
How do vaccines prevent disease? ............................................. 159
Can sugar pills really stop pain? ................................................ 160
Why do joints get sore and red when you have arthritis? .........161
Does the color of a bruise indicate how bad it is? .................... 162
Why is it so hard to find a cure for the common cold? ........... 163
Why does Earth have a magnetic field? .................................... 168
Why is Earth’s interior hotter than its surface? ....................... 169
Why do Africa and South America look like they
fit together? .............................................................................. 171
Why do so many earthquakes occur along the
Pacific Coast? ........................................................................... 172
How do fossils form? .................................................................. 173
How did the Colorado River make the Grand Canyon? .......... 175
Where does lava come from? ..................................................... 176
How does crude oil form underground? ................................... 177
Why do some layers of rock in a cliff run up and down
instead of side to side? .............................................................. 178
Why does the jet stream flow from west to east? ..................... 182
Why is it usually cooler at the top of a mountain than
at the bottom? .......................................................................... 184
Why do some clouds look white and others look gray? ........... 184
Why don’t hurricanes form near the North and
South Poles? ............................................................................. 185
What is the “wind chill factor” that the meteorologist
discusses on the TV weather report? ...................................... 187
Why is there often a strong wind just before
a thunderstorm? ....................................................................... 188
Why is the ocean salty while many lakes are not? ................... 189
Why does Seattle get twice as much precipitation
as Spokane? ............................................................................... 191
Why can palm trees grow in Dublin but not in Portland? ...... 192
Do you get wetter by walking or running in the rain? ............ 193
Why do forest managers use controlled burns? ....................... 196
Do flies serve any useful purpose? ............................................ 197
What is biodiversity and why is it important? .......................... 198
Why were phosphates removed from most detergents? ...........200
Why are wetlands important? ................................................... 201
What is the ozone hole and how was it formed? ......................202
How do we know about ancient climates? ................................204
How does the greenhouse effect work?..................................... 205
What causes acid rain? ...............................................................207
Why do we only see one side of the moon? ..............................209
Do planets show phases as the moon does? .............................. 211
What are the chances of an asteroid hitting Earth?................. 212
Why do we see different stars in summer than in winter?........213
What causes the seasons? ........................................................... 214
Why does the moon have more craters than Earth? ................ 215
How do we know the mass of Earth? ........................................ 217
Why don’t we see an eclipse every month? ............................... 218
Why did Pluto get demoted from its status as a planet? .......... 219
Why aren’t all stars the same color? .......................................... 220
How do we measure the distance to stars? ............................... 222
What exists beyond the universe? ............................................. 224
How do we know that the universe is expanding? ................... 224
How do we measure the distance to faraway galaxies? ............ 225
How old is the universe? ............................................................ 227
How can we detect a black hole if light can’t escape it? ........... 228
Why are quasars so bright? ....................................................... 229
What are dark matter and dark energy? ................................... 230
What forces shape the galaxies? ................................................ 231
How will the universe end? ....................................................... 233
How does a microwave oven heat food? .................................... 238
How do light-emitting diodes work? ......................................... 239
How can a remote control turn a television on and off
across a room? ..........................................................................240
How does a smoke alarm detect smoke? ................................... 241
How does my GPS receiver know where I am? ........................ 243
Why are atomic clocks so accurate? ..........................................244
How do power plants produce electrical energy? ..................... 245
How do home computer printers work? ....................................246
How can irradiation preserve perishable foods? ....................... 247
How does biometric identification work? .................................248
What happens inside a computer? ............................................. 252
How are supercomputers different from regular
computers? ................................................................................ 253
How do magnetic strips on a credit card work? ....................... 255
How do retail theft-prevention alarms work? ........................... 256
How does a grocery store scanner work? .................................. 257
How do radio frequency identification devices work? .............. 258
How do solar cells convert sunlight into electrical energy? ..... 259
How do digital cameras take pictures? ...................................... 261
Why are there places that a cell phone does not work? ........... 263
How does arthroscopic surgery work? ......................................266
How are materials chosen for replacement body parts? ........... 267
How do x-rays show a broken bone? .........................................268
How do CAT scans make images of your body? ...................... 269
How does an MRI scanner make an image? ............................. 270
How does a PET scan differ from other
imaging techniques? ................................................................. 272
How do defibrillators save a person having a heart attack? ..... 273
How does a sonogram make a picture of a fetus? ..................... 274
Atoms ..........................................................................................280
Dalton’s Model of the Atom ....................................................... 281
How Atoms Look Today ............................................................ 281
Motion—Everything Moves Like Clockwork .......................... 283
Gravity ........................................................................................284
Germ Theory ............................................................................. 285
Plate Tectonics ...........................................................................288
The Big Bang .............................................................................288
Western Science Began in Greece ............................................ 291
The Indians Were There First .................................................. 293
Masters of the Middle Kingdom ...............................................294
Arabic Numbers and the Scientific Method ............................. 295
A Short List of More Recent Scientists .....................................297
What is the universe made of? .................................................. 301
Does anything exist outside the universe? ................................ 303
Is there anyone else out there? ..................................................304
How do we think? ...................................................................... 305
How can we make replacement cells for body parts? ...............307
How did life begin? ....................................................................308
Nanotechnology ......................................................................... 312
Molecular Medicine ................................................................... 313
Robotics ...................................................................................... 314
New Energy Sources .................................................................. 316
Genetic Modification ................................................................. 319
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