This undergraduate textbook educates non-science majors¿our future policy makers¿on how science works, the rules that underpin our existence, our impact on nature, and nature's impact on us. The book provides a concise, historically based, non-mathematical treatment of modern physics relevant to societal issues. It challenges readers to examine the problems we face (and their own beliefs) in light of the scientific method.
With a narrative structure, Science and Society explains the scientific process and the power it brings to dealing with the natural world. The reader will gain a deeper understanding of scientific results reported by the media, and thus the tools to develop a rational, fact-based assessment of energy and resource policy.
Praise for Science and Society:
"Anyone who thinks society can be managed without science should think again, or better: read this book. Eric Swanson explains how science permeates society, and with simple examples of the scientific process he shows its special power in dealing with the natural world. This is a must read for the world's seven billion scientists."
F.E. Close, OBE, Oxford University, author of, among others, "Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy", "The Infinity Puzzle", and "Neutrino"

Eric Swanson is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He has published more than 100 papers on theoretical hadronic physics, condensed matter physics, and biophysics. Swanson is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and is a founder of the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics. He has been a visiting scientist at Oxford University, TRIUMF in British Columbia, Jefferson Lab in Virginia, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

What is Science?.- Modes of Logic.- Modelling and Occam's Razor.- Theory, Model, and Law.- Defining Science.- Progress and Change in Science .- Answerable and Unanswerable in Science.- Why Does Science Exist?.- Doing Science.- The Beginnings of Science.- Studies.- Study Design.- Statistics and Studies.- Improving Study Reliability.- Pseudoscience.- Pseudoscience and Society.- Bad Science, Bad Scientists.- Case Studies.- Deconstructing Pseudoscience.- Energy and Entropy.- Definitions and Units.- Entropy.- Energy, Entropy, and Life.- Energy Flow in Society.- The Arrow of Time.- Electricity, Magnetism, and Light.- Magnetism and Force.- Electricity.- Faraday and Fields.- Maxwell and Light.- Vision and Light.- Measuring Light.- Spectral Lines.- Atom and Light.- The Electron.- Rutherford's Atom.- Blackbody Radiation.- The Photoelectric Effect.- Bohr's Atom.- The Quantum Atom.- Nuclear and Atomic Scales.- The Interaction of Light and Matter.- Climate.- Fossil Fuels.- Greenhouse Gases.- Energy Flow in the Environment.- Climate Modelling.- Implications of Climate Change.- Nuclear Energy and Radiation.- Into the Atom.- Nuclear Decay.- Nuclear Transmutation.- Health Effects of Radioactivity.- The Bomb.- Nuclear Power.- Nuclear Disasters.- Other Uses of Radioactivity.- Why Stars Shine.- A Finite Planet.- Population Growth.- Economic Growth.- Resource Management.- Beyond Carbon.- Electric Transport.- Outlook.- Space Travel.- Looking Out.