Science

What Is Science?

"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science." -Henri Poincare (1854-1912) To many, science is nothing more than the isolation of a body of truths about a given subject—facts […]

A Look at Theories (Science)

"True science is never speculative; it employs hypotheses as suggesting points for inquiry, but it never adopts the hypotheses as though they were demonstrated propositions." In science, the word "theory" has a specific meaning—a possible explanation for a phenomenon that is supported by experimental evidence. Scientists speak of the atomic theory, the theory of evolution, […]

Physics-Energy and Motion (Science)

"A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though t hey were fairy tales." -Marie Curie (1867-1934) We use motion and energy every moment of every day without thinking about the details. For example, throwing a baseball is a complicated process—the […]

Physics-Light and Sound (Science)

"The most important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplemented in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote." -Albert A. Michelson (1852-1931) The science of physics includes the study of waves. You know about waves from […]

Physics-Fluids (Science)

"If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in Water."—Loren Eiseley (1907–1977) What happens if you push on the surface of water? It flows away from the point at which you are pushing and your finger fills the space formerly filled by water. If the water is frozen, however, this does not happen. […]

Chemistry—Matter (Science)

"You will die but the carbon will not; its career does not end with you. It will return to the soil, and there a plant may take it up again in time, sending it once more on a cycle of plant and animal life."-Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974) Chemists study matter, which is defined as anything that […]

Chemistry-Matter on the Small Scale (Science)

"Matter, though divisible in an extreme degree, is nevertheless not infinitely divisible. That is, there must be some point beyond which we cannot go in the division of matter. The existence of these ultimate particles of matter can scarcely be doubted, though they are probably much too small ever to be exhibited by microscopic improvements. […]

Chemistry-Interactions of Matter (Science)

"If the history of technology tells us anything, it is that the future lies in the world of the very small."-Eric Cornell (1961-) When you put a log on a fire, it burns and releases energy as heat and light, leaving behind only a small amount of ash. A steel pipe, on the other hand, […]

Biology-Plants, Animals, and Others (Science)

"It has taken biologists some 230 years to identify and describe three quarters of a million insects; if there are indeed at least thirty million, as Erwin (Terry Erwin, the Smithsonian Institute) estimates, then, working as they have in the past, insect taxonomists have ten thousand years of employment ahead of them. Ghilean Prance, director […]

Biology-Humans (Science)

"Biology will relate every human gene to the genes of other animals and bacteria, to this great chain of being."-Walter Gilbert (1932-) The biology of humans is related to that of other animals, but, of course, there are significant differences. Studies of anatomy and physiology have led to a breakdown of the body into interacting […]

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