Why Icebergs Float

Front matter

Exploring Science in Everyday Life

Andrew Morris

‘UCL

Preface

This is not a normal science book. It’s written for people who would like to know more about science, but who may feel unsure where to start. Perhaps science passed them by at school; maybe the science shelves in the local bookshop appear daunting. Yet, despite this, many of them remain just as curious about the world around them as they were in primary school. They just lack the basic concepts needed to begin understanding things from a scientific point of view. This is a pity, and an unnecessary imbalance in their lives. After all, people manage to pick up ideas about politics and society, literature and history as they go through their lives, whether they made much of these subjects at school or not.

Why Icebergs Float aims to put this right by introducing some fundamental ideas from science in a radically different way. Unlike traditional science books it doesn’t attempt to explain a particular subject, such as genetics or gravity, from a scientist’s point of view. Instead, each chapter takes a question an ordinary person might be interested in as its starting point. The narrative picks up on things anyone might ask about, or may have noticed in the world about them, and discusses them before launching into relevant scientific explanation, always using plain language. It doesn’t attempt to ‘teach’ a subject; it follows a path of inquiry you might take. In short, this is a book that starts with real life issues and leads into scientific ideas.

But how do we know the kinds of question people might wish to ask; and how they might choose to discuss them, given the opportunity? This book is based on discussions held over many years with groups of people from different walks of life, who wanted to discuss science simply because they were curious about things. The one thing they had in common was an absence of training in any branch of science, though they were generally interested in other aspects of life — politics, society, literature and history, for example — and wanted to make good the imbalance in relation to science.

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In the discussion groups people asked questions they had always wanted to ask, but had felt too intimidated to do so. They exchanged their experiences and thoughts about the issue with each other, while I, as tutor, helped to identify the fundamental concepts with which the group was grappling. When more detailed knowledge was demanded, reference books, internet searches and visits to practising scientists were used to winkle out the facts. In this way an unusual and inspiring mixture of curiosity, personal experience, scientific concepts and factual knowledge was built up.

Why Icebergs Float takes a selection of these discussions as its core, with a colourful series of everyday topics — from paintings and food to illness and icebergs — acting as the entry point to a number of fundamental scientific concepts. Topics are not set out in the order you might expect in a textbook. Instead, the chapters follow the course of actual discussions, reflecting the interests of the participants and the direction they chose to take. As a consequence not all aspects of a given topic are covered, and the path taken may be unexpected. Each chapter is a discrete story; the reader can choose to read the book all the way through or dip in without losing coherence. The language assumes no prior knowledge of science, and no use is made of mathematics. If you come away from this book with a greater interest in science and enhanced confidence about tackling it, the book will have served its purpose. If you also develop an understanding of some scientific concepts, it will have exceeded it.

Enjoy!

PREFACE

Acknowledgements

In this book the reader is invited to eavesdrop on a series of discussions between consenting adults in a wine bar in London. Members of the discussion groups have turned out religiously, month after month, some for more than 14 years, to talk about things relating to science in their everyday lives. Ailments and travails, hobbies and holidays, offspring and ancestors, cars, computers and hairdryers and paintings are all it has taken to spark off discussion. From these, an inexhaustible torrent of questions has flowed. Less tangible aspects of life equally have inspired inquiry: how the universe arose, how humankind developed, why we behave as we do.

Since my earliest days my parents, brothers and sister have encouraged an outward-looking approach to the world, savouring the colours of the passing seasons, the swirl of the departing swifts or the pumping of a steam train piston. From this a desire to understand and explain grew from the earliest age, and I am grateful for their encouragement. Equally important were my many inspiring teachers — in music, language, maths and woodwork, as well as in science. I am grateful to them all, from Mr Ewart and Mr Thomas at Bedwell Junior School in Stevenage and Mr Sills and Mr Humphreys at St Christopher School in

Letchworth to the late Dr Sandy Geddes in the Biophysics laboratory at the University of Leeds.

It’s the patience and forbearance of my partner, Franco Carta, that enabled this book to be written at all amid so many other distractions. I thank him for this. Equally patient and helpful have been Chris Penfold, Jaimee Biggins and Catherine Bradley, my editors at UCL Press, who, from the very beginning of our acquaintance, have encouraged and advised me wisely.

I wish the readers well in their adventure with this book and hope a few might even be encouraged to take up the idea that inspired it — creating a discussion group and exploring the many fascinating ideas that science contributes to our lives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Contents

List of Figures

Introduction

Getting the most from this book

The chemistry and biology of taste

Chemicals that give us colour

. Cuts are Red, Veins are Blue...

How blood delivers our vital oxygen

Particle or wave? That is the question

Developing models or finding the truth?

From the eye to the brain

What it’s made of, how it works

What they are, what they do

. Reflections on Molecules and the Body

Understanding the complexity of molecular mechanisms

Why you can’t take a pill for "flu xiii xi xii

Floating and Density Why icebergs float Tides and Gravity

Holding the universe together — from Newton to Einstein

Energy

The scientific angle on an everyday concept

How heat energy gets around

Energy for Life Mitochondria and the ‘three-parent baby’

Where does it come from, how does it work?

Brain scanning and what it reveals: discussion with a cognitive neuroscientist

Defining culture: discussion with an anthropologist

Reflections on what’s been learned and how to take it forward

Briefing on the building blocks of matter

Further Resources