Draws on interviews with the world's top scientists to offer a guide to scientific literacy, exploring the fundamental principles of the major scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy.

Originally published: Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

Introduction: Sisyphus Sings with a Ying1 -- 1 Thinking Scientifically: An Out-of-Body Experience 18 -- 2 Probabilities: For Whom the Bell Curves 47 -- 3 Calibration: Playing with Scales 71 -- 4 Physics: And Nothing's Plenty for Me 87 -- 5 Chemistry: Fire, Ice, Spies, and Life 121 -- 6 Evolutionary Biology: The Theory of Every Body 147 -- 7 Molecular Biology: Cells and Whistles 183 -- 8 Geology: Imagining World Pieces 212 -- 9 Astronomy: Heavenly Creatures 235.