Science matters

Science is sometimes seen as being difficult - something which only experts need to know about. But anyone who believes this is essentially opting out of playing a full part in today's society. Hazen and Trefil attack this problem by providing an overview of science for the non-scientist in the form of this book. I have to say that it's impressive how much of the basics of science they get into less than 300 pages - physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, biology and ecology are all dealt with. I feel that they have succeeded admirably in their task, and whether read through or used for reference this book deserves a place on the bookshelf of any non-scientist who wants to improve their knowledge in this area.

I could also imagine this book being of use to younger readers as an introduction to science, although in this case I would have more reservations. I feel that it is mostly concerned with describing the current state of science, rather than imparting the sense of curiousity which is vital to the scientific viewpoint. For this purpose I would prefer books which go into more detail for each subject, with more illustrations. That said, I don't think that any single book would compete with this one, and it does have a list of further reading at the end.

The book was published 13 years ago but I didn't feel that this was too much of a problem - although this is a long time in the fast moving world of science the basics don't change that fast.