Need a Good Source for Basic General Science Information

[Perpetual Student]

Another message from chicken little:

http://Click here: Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds - NYTimes.com

 

[geni]

Preferably in the Philosophy section. Pointless crap like this from people who don't actually understand science has no place being discussed here.

Close minded dismissal through ad homs of that which you do not understand has no place on this forum.

Feel free to start a thread stateing what you belive the scientific method to actualy be.

 

[The Man]

Try hyperphysics
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

It may not be exactly what you are looking for in the general sense, but it is well organized and informative.

 

[JJM]

I didn't particularly like that. Bill Bryson is a writer, not a scientist, and it shows. It's far from the worst popular science book around, but it had far too many little mistakes and inaccuracies for me to recommend it to anyone. {snip}

I did note some errors, I scribed them on the last page. Maybe I missed more because I skipped chapters on the topic I know best (chemistry). I do think we can get a good start, and then refine our knowledge. For example, the first works I read on genetics (published in the '50s) gave an incorrect number of human chromosomes. I cannot remember the correct number, now; but it does not matter. If I start a project in human genetics, I will learn the correct number.

Nonetheless, you are not the first to complain about that book, and it tempers my enthusiasm; at least till I re-read it more critically.

 

[ExMinister]

Hi Wowbagger - thought I'd jump into the middle of this debate real quick just to say that since the type of person you described in your OP sounds a lot like me one year ago, I would highly recommend Natalie Angier's book The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science. She not only explains science but she is funny, which is nice for those of us who might find things like evolutionary biology a bit overwhelming at first pass. Her first chapter is Thinking Scientifically, which I think is exactly what you have in mind. Her second is Probabilities, also good. Then she goes into physics, chemistry, evolutionary and molecular biology and astronomy. I've read Bill Bryson's book, too, but I think Angier's is more what you might be looking for. Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World remains one of my all-time favorites, too, but unless the person is specifically interested in skepticism and science, Angier's book might work best.

 

[Wowbagger]

Try hyperphysics
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

It may not be exactly what you are looking for in the general sense, but it is well organized and informative.

Good for a quick referenc, I'd say. Not sure I'd want to throw that whole thing at someone, yet.

I would highly recommend Natalie Angier's book The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science.

Quite interesting! I shall check this one out! Thanks!