Science and society : understanding scientific methodology, energy, climate, and sustainability
Eric S. Swanson
- New York : Springer, c2016.
- xxix, 276 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.
Preliminaries -- 1. What is science? -- 2. Doing science -- 3. Pseudoscience -- 4. Energy and entropy -- 5. Electricity, magnetism, and light -- 6. Atom and light -- 7. Climate -- 8. Nuclear energy and radiation -- 9. A finite planet -- 10. Outlook -- Problem solutions.
"This undergraduate textbook educates non-science majors - our future policy makers - on how science works, the rules that underpin our existence, our impact on nature, and nature's impact on us. The book provides a concise, historically based, non-mathematical treatment of modern physics relevant to societal issues. It challenges readers to examine the problems we face (and their own beliefs) in light of the scientific method. With a narrative structure, 'Science and Society' explains the scientific process and the power it brings to dealing with the natural world. the reder will gain a deeeper understnding of scientific results reported by the media, and thus the tools to develop a rational, fact-based assessment of energy and resource policy."