There are many great books on science and its history where you can find more about the why and how of the universe, how we know the answers, and where we are going. Most people today also use the Internet as a major source of information.
The usual caution about websites applies when you are seeking science information: be skeptical of any source whose reliability you cannot confirm. You can generally rely on established science magazines, government research labs, universities, and scientific and medical associations for reliable information. Beware inaccurate information if you don’t know anything about the source or if it is sponsored by a person or an organization with a reason to be biased.
Finding Links
Your search engine can lead to many science sources. There are also some more specific ways to seek information sources.
Portal to U.S. government science sites: www.science.gov
Current research and news releases: www.eurekalert.org
Papers from government, scientific associations, and patents: www.scitopia.org/scitopia
Good starting point for information searches, including science (Internet Public Library): www.ipl.org
National Digital Science Library: http://nsdl.org European Science Foundation: www.esf.org
Museums
Many museums have excellent websites, particularly in relation to their current displays. Here are two good museum sites and places to find hundreds more.
Links to a great list of natural history museums worldwide: www.lib.washington.edu/sla/natmus.html
Links to more science museums around the world: www.fi.edu/learn/hotlists/museums.php
Smithsonian Institute: www.si.edu
The Exploratorium: www.exploratorium.edu/index.html
Science News
Many established science magazines have online publications, and there are some useful and interesting web-only publications. These sources are a good place to look for recent research and news as well as good articles on any topic you can think of.
BBC Science: www.bbc.co.uk/sn
Discovery Channel: http://dsc.discovery.com
Live Science: www.livescience.com
National Geographic: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science
New Scientist: www.newscientist.com/home.ns
Nova (PBS): www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova
Popular Science: www.popsci.com
Science Daily: www.sciencedaily.com
Science News: www.sciencenews.org
ScienceNOW (AAAS): http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org
Scientific American: www.sciam.com
Seed Magazine: www.seedmagazine.com
Space.com: www.space.com
Technology Review: www.technologyreview.com
Questions for Scientists
There are many websites that allow you to address science questions to resident scientists. Most of them are sponsored by universities or research organizations. Here are a few places to find more science information in a question/answer format.
Cornell Center for Materials Research: www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask
Newton BBS Ask a Scientist: www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/env98.htm
Howard Hughes Medical Institute: http://askascientist.org
University of Wisconsin: http://whyfiles.org
Association for Astronomy Education: www.aae.org.uk/serv01.htm
Major U.S. Government Research Programs
Here are links to some of the major research efforts of the United States government. The portal listed previously, www.science.gov, will take you to many more. Other governments around the world also sponsor major research programs.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: www.noaa.gov
NASA: www.nasa.gov
Hubble Telescope: http://hubblesite.org
Earth Observatory: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
National Institutes for Health: http://medlineplus.gov
Food and Drug Administration: www.fda.gov/oc/science.html
Department of Energy: www.doe.gov
Universities
University websites are often great sources for science information. Check out the public information page, college of science, or specific departments to find out what research is currently going on. MIT is noted because its open courseware project puts materials from all of its courses online.
Major research universities (mostly United States): www.ura-hq.org/universities/index.html
Links to almost 8,000 universities and colleges: http://univ.cc
MIT Open Courseware: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
