The Nature of Science: An A-Z Guide to the Laws and Principles Governing Our Universe

Todayscienceliteracy-knowinghowtheworldworks,fromthemicroscopicleveltothefarthestreachesofspace-ismoreimportantthanever,butfindingalltheessentialinformationinoneplacecanbeadauntingtask.EnterTheNatureofScience,theultimatesciencehandbookforthehome,explainingineverydaytermsthetwohundredoverarchinglaws,principles,andmechanismsthatmakesenseofthephysicalworld.Cloning;blackholes;Fermat'slasttheorem;geneticdrift;theinflationaryuniverse;Newton'slawsofmotion;stringtheories.Withlivelywritingandwhimsicalanalogies,sciencepopularizerJamesTrefilleadsaremarkableA-Ztourthroughthediscovery,significance,andworkingsoftheuniverse'smajorlaws.Herearesometwohundredessaysongrandtheories,suchasKepler'slawsofplanetarymotionandMendel'slawsofgenetics,andonmorefamiliarphenomena,suchashowairplanesflyandhowpolarizedsunglasseswork.Abundantcross-referencesmakeiteasytofollowalaw'sconnectionsacrossdifferentfields,revealingawebofunifyingtheoriesthatspanthesmallestcellandthelargestgalaxy.Timelinesineachessayfurtherspellouttheevolutionofeachlaw,whilebiographicalsidebarsonscientistsshowcasetheoftenquirkytalesofdiscovery-thehumanstoriesbehindnature'slaws.FromatomictheorytoZeno'sparadox,TheNatureofSciencemakesunderstandingscienceapleasure.ForthosewhoarefamiliarwiththeBigBang(butmaybenottheBigCrunchortheBigSplash),thisbookisessentialreading-akeytounlockingthemysteriesoftheuniverse.