Understanding the Misconceptions of Science

INTRODUCTION

Professor Biography......Page i
Course Scope......Page 1

LECTURES

Lecture 1—What the World Gets Wrong about Science......Page 04
Lecture 2—Franklin’s Kite and Other Electrifying Myths......Page 12
Lecture 3—The Ideal Gas Law (It’s Not Ideal)......Page 22
Lecture 4—From the Ground Up: How Flying Works......Page 30
Lecture 5—From the Sky Down: How Falling Works......Page 40
Lecture 6—Myths of Orbital Motion......Page 50
Quiz 1......Page 60
Lecture 7—What’s Inside Atoms?......Page 64
Lecture 8—The Truth Is In Here: The Science of Aliens......Page 74
Lecture 9—Misconceptions about Evolution......Page 84
Lecture 10—Nutrition’s All About You—and Your Gut Biome......Page 94
Lecture 11—Humans Are Not Peas: Myths about Genetics......Page 102
Lecture 12—Getting Smarter about Intelligence......Page 112
Quiz 2......Page 122
Lecture 13—Exposing the Truth about Radiation......Page 126
Lecture 14—How Does Carbon-14 Dating Work?......Page 136
Lecture 15—How Statistics Can Lie to You......Page 146
Lecture 16—Does Thermodynamics Disprove Evolution?......Page 156
Lecture 17—How Relativity Is Misunderstood......Page 166
Lecture 18—E = mc 2 and Other Relativity Myths......Page 176
Quiz 3......Page 190
Lecture 19—Why Do Black Holes Get Such a Bad Rap?......Page 194
Lecture 20—What Banged, and Was It Big?......Page 204
Lecture 21—Can You Go Faster Than Light?......Page 212
Lecture 22—Untangling How Quantum Mechanics Works......Page 222
Lecture 23—Untangling What Quantum Mechanics Means......Page 234
Lecture 24—Is There a Theory of Everything?......Page 244
Quiz 4......Page 254

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Bibliography......Page 258
Image Credits......Page 265
All Quiz Answers......Page 267