You probably know that John Wilkins has been collecting a list of science blog posts under the heading of Basic Concepts in Science - where various science bloggers (and not only Seed sciencebloggers) took some time to explain some very basic terms, concepts and ideas in various scientific disciplines.
Recently, John also started collecting another list of blog posts, these a little more difficult to comprehend (perhaps necessitating reading the Basic posts first) - the Intermediate concepts in science. Check them out.
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I was once asked to address a non-scientific group who wanted to know about the greatest concepts in science, and without too much thought I agreed. It was tougher to produce a list of basic concepts in science than I had initially thought, mostly because my broadest area of expertise only deals with 4 of the 20, and I can't remember all of the sources of information I relied upon, but it was condensed down to 20 concepts as I expressed them for a non-technical, audience.
20 GREATEST SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS
1. The natural Universe is regular, understandable, and predictable.
2. One set of laws describes all motion (Newton).
3. Energy is conserved (1st Law of Thermodynamics).
4. Energy always disperses and when transformed goes from more useful to less useful forms (2nd Law of Thermodynamics).
5. Electricity, light, and magnetism are different aspects of the same force.
6. Matter is made of atoms.
7. Atoms are composed of neutrons, protons, and electrons, and atomic nuclei are bound together by a force.
8. Neutrons, protons, and electrons are composed of quarks and leptons, and so far no smaller subunits have been found.
9. The way matter behaves depends on the composition and arrangement of its atoms.
10. Everything (matter and energy) comes in discrete units, and you cannot measure anything without changing it.
11. Nuclear energy comes from a conversion of mass into energy (E = mc2).
12. Stars are born, live and die like everything else, and elements other than hydrogen (H) and helium (HE) are made when stars die.
13. The Universe began at a specific time in the past as an infinitely dense, hot singularity, which exploded and has been expanding and cooling off ever since.
14. Every observer sees the same nature operating the same way (Einstein's general and special theories of relativity).
15. The surface features and the climate of the Earth have been constantly changing.
16. Everything on Earth operates in cycles.
17. The cell is the smallest organizational unit to display all the characteristics of life.
18. All life possesses an underlying chemical and organizational similarity that can be passed on to offspring.
19. All life is subject to evolutionary change; Earth's fossil record shows the age, history, and changing diversity of life, and suggests cataclysmic events have occurred.
20. Life is interconnected and interdependent, and interactive with its environment, both being changed in the process.