The Five Biggest Unsolved Problems in Science , livre ebook

Turner Publishing Company - Charles M. Wynn , Arthur W. Wiggins

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162 pages

English

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An in-depth look at the theories behind the most intriguing puzzles in physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and astronomy
In The Five Biggest Ideas in Science, authors Arthur W. Wiggins and Charles M. Wynn discussed science's most important current ideas. Now, they tackle the questions that science has been unable to answer-so far. Choosing one unsolved problem from each discipline, they explore the current scientific thinking behind these questions: How are particle masses determined? How did simple atoms first combine to form complex molecules? What role does the genome play in the development of life? Why is it so difficult to predict the weather? And what is the future of the universe? Featuring cartoons by Sidney Harris, the book includes discussions of recent theories such as the God particle, string theory, "brane" theories, and the Theory of Everything and also explores other science questions.
Arthur W. Wiggins (Farmington Hills, MI) is a Professor of Physics at Oakland Community College in Michigan. Charles M. Wynn (Willimantic, CT) is a Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Connecticut State College. They collaborated on The Five Biggest Ideas in Science (0-471-13812-6).
Preface.

1. Science in Perspective.

2. Physics: Why Do Some Particles Have Mass while Others Have None?

3. Chemistry: By What Series of Chemical Reactions Did Atoms Form the First Living Things?

4. Biology: What Is the Complete Structure and Function of the Proteome?

5. Geology: Is Accurate Long-range Weather Forecasting Possible?

6. Astronomy: Why Is the Universe Expanding Faster and Faster?

Problem Folders.

Idea Folders.

Resources for Digging Deeper.

Photo Credits.

Index.

Sujets

Science

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Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	02 mai 2008
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780470349649
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0800€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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The Five Biggest Unsolved Problems in Science
Arthur W. Wiggins
Charles M. Wynn
With Cartoon Commentary by Sidney Harris

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2003 by Arthur W. Wiggins and Charles M. Wynn. All rights reserved All cartoons copyright by Sidney Harris.
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, email: permcoordinator@wiley.com.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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ISBN 0-471-26808-9
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface

1 Science in Perspective

2 Physics: Why Do Some Particles Have Mass while Others Have None?

3 Chemistry: By What Series of Chemical Reactions Did Atoms Form the First Living Things?

4 Biology: What Is the Complete Structure and Function of the Proteome?

5 Geology: Is Accurate Long-range Weather Forecasting Possible?

6 Astronomy: Why Is the Universe Expanding Faster and Faster?

Problem Folders
Idea Folders
Resources for Digging Deeper
Photo Credits
Index
Preface
Here we are, human beings, situated on a chunk of rock called a planet orbiting a nuclear fusion reactor called a star that is one of a huge group of stars called a galaxy, in turn part of clusters of galaxies that make up the universe. Although our condition, which we call life, is shared by plenty of other organisms on this planet, we alone seem to have the mental equipment to seek and arrive at a general understanding of the universe and its contents. Our efforts to comprehend the nature of the universe are collectively called science. These understandings haven t been easy to achieve and are far from complete. However, we do seem to be making progress.
This book is the third of a trilogy that deals with understanding the universe. In our first book, The Five Biggest Ideas in Science, we examined fundamental ideas in which scientists have a great deal of confidence because of experimental evidence. Our second book, Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends and Pseudoscience Begins, examined ideas in which scientists have little or no confidence because experimental evidence is lacking. This latest book is our effort to tell you about the biggest unsolved problems scientists are working on. Here, although there is a great deal of experimental evidence, even more is required, because no single hypothesis about each of the problems can be supported adequately. We ll look at the events and understandings that led to these unsolved problems and then bring you up to date on science s cutting-edge efforts to solve them. Sidney Harris, America s premier science cartoonist, enlivens the discussions with his own brand of humor, which not only illustrates the ideas but illuminates them from a fresh perspective.
These unsolved problems were chosen, one from each major branch of natural science, on the basis of their explanatory power, difficulty, scope, and far-reaching implications. In addition to discussing the biggest unsolved problems, we have included a section called Problem Folders, a brief look at a selection of the other problems from each field. Any of these problems could increase in importance as more is learned about it. Also, we have included Idea Folders, which contain additional details about the background of some of the unsolved problems. Finally, there is a section called Resources for Digging Deeper, in which sources of information are listed to help you learn more about topics you find particularly appealing.
Special thanks go to Wiley senior editor Kate Bradford, who first conceived this theme, and our agent, Louise Ketz, for her timely encouragement.
Science has become like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in our culture. The pursuit of scientific knowledge consumes enormous amounts of time, effort, and brainpower. Technological applications of scientific knowledge require correspondingly huge resources with gigantic global industries generated in the process. The thing about 800-pound gorillas is, you ve got to watch them closely. We hope this book helps clarify where science is headed, so we can all keep a watchful eye on our gorilla.
AWW, CMW, SH
CHAPTER ONE
Science in Perspective

It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible.
-Aristotle
Science Technology
Science and technology are pretty much the same thing, aren t they?
No.
Although the technology that dominates modern culture is driven by science s understandings of the universe, technology and science spring from entirely different motivations. Let s put the substantial differences between science and technology into perspective. While science is practiced primarily because of the fundamental desire of human beings to know and understand the universe, technology is pursued because of the fundamental desire of human beings to influence the human condition. That influence may take the form of earning a living, helping others, or even exercising power over others for personal gain.
While individuals often find themselves practicing pure science and applied science at the same time, the institution of science can carry on basic research without necessarily having an eye to eventual products. A nineteenth-century British chancellor of the exchequer, William Gladstone, remarked to Michael Faraday about his basic discoveries linking electricity and magnetism: This is all very interesting, but what good is it? Faraday replied, Sir, I do not know, but some day you will tax it. About half the current wealth of developed nations comes from Faraday s connection of electricity and magnetism.

Before scientific understandings are translated into technology, additional considerations are necessary. Besides the question of what gadget can be designed, there s the question of what should be built, a question that is properly the province of the field of ethics. Ethics is part of another whole area of people s intellectual activities: the humanities. The major difference between science and the humanities is objectivity. Science strives to study the operation of the universe as objectively as possible, while the humanities have no such goal or requirement. To paraphrase Margaret Wolfe Hungerford (nineteenth-century Irish romance novelist), Beauty [and truth and justice and fairness and ] is in the eye of the beholder.
Science is far from a monolithic entity. Natural sciences study our surroundings as well as people in their functional similarity to other life-forms, whereas human sciences study people s rational/emotional behavior and the institutions set up by people for social, political and, economic interactions. Figure 1.1 is a graphical representation of these relationships.
While this neat characterization is helpful in understanding overall relationships, the real world is considerably more complex. Ethics helps dictate what topics are researched, what research methods are used, and what applications are prohibited because they are deemed potentially too dangerous to human welfare. Economics and political science also play major roles because science can only study what the culture is willing to support in terms of capital equipment, personnel, and political acceptability.

F IGURE 1.1. Intellectual Activities
Science s Operating Procedure
The success of science in analyzing the workings of the universe is a result of the dynamic interplay between observations and ideas. This interactive process is known as the scientific method. (See Figure 1.2.)
During the observation step, some specific occurrence is perceived by the human senses with or without the aid of instrumentation. While the natural sciences have a large number of identical subjects to observe (think carbon atoms), the human sciences have a smaller number of distinctly different subjects (think human beings, even identical twins).
Human thought processes being what they are, data will be collected for just so long before the mind, in its search for order, begins to construct patterns or explanations. This is called the hypothesis step. The logic that uses specific observations