Science for Responsible Citizenship by Blane Baker

Science for Responsible Citizenship by Blane Baker

Science for Responsible Citizenship helps the reader to understand how science works and how science can help us develop reasonable and logical solutions to worldwide problems. Basic science knowledge and possible solutions based on scientific reasoning are explored, with a focus on interdisciplinary topics including disease transmission, energy, and climate change. The book starts with discussing the role of science in modern society, before tackling the basic science of global warming, human health, chemical processes that contribute to life on Earth, and the importance of water. The second half of the book describes the science of the electrical grid, nuclear reactions, devices and reactors, the Earth’s habitability, electronics, and optics, and concludes with a look ahead at the scientific and technological challenges of future energy needs and sustainable energy. This book can be used as part of a general science course at the college level and is also accessible to anyone with a high school background.

Key Features:

• Addresses the fundamentals of scientific knowledge and reasoning in a clear and accessible style
• Offers a timely exploration of several existential challenges that can be addressed by science
• Provokes and encourages thought on how to solve some of our global problems

Blane Baker is Professor of Physics at his alma mater William Jewell College where he returned to teach in 1999. He regularly teaches courses in general physics, electronics, and quantum mechanics, along with a popular sport science course for non-science majors. Baker is an active contributor to the American Association of Physics Teachers AAPT and served as co-chair of the Sigma Pi Sigma 2022 Physics Congress. His areas of interest include electronics, sustainable energy, and materials science. He is a member of the American Physical Society APS, American Association of Physics Teachers AAPT, Society of Physics Students SPS, and Sigma Pi Sigma. He also holds the Wallace A. Hilton Endowed Chair in Physics at William Jewell College.