Natural Science - Year II

There are no formal required texts for this course. We will instead do extensive web reading, including readings in original source materials.

The DK Science Encyclopedia has excellent illustrations and explationations of scientific concepts and theories. I used to require this text, but it is becoming harder to find.

The Sciences: an Integrated Approach, James Trefil and Robert M. Hazen (John Wiley & Sons). This is a college level course intended to acquaint the reader with the current theories and practice of science. It also provides historical background for many of the discoveries or breakthroughs in each field of science.

Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy, Robert M. Hazen and James Trefil (Anchor Books) is a popularized account of the material in The Sciences: an Integrated Approach. It is a widely available paperback.

All of Isaac Asimov's popularizations (the three-volume Physics, or Genetics, for example) are very readable introductions to each area, although some chapters are now becoming dated by new discoveries.

On the Shoulders of Giants, A history of science in five volumes, by Ray Spangenburg and Diane K. Moser (Facts on File). These books provide a high-school level introduction to the history of science. The volumes include

• The History of Science from the ancient Greeks to the Scientific Revolution
• The History of Science in the Eighteenth Century
• The History of Science in the Nineteenth Century
• The History of Science from 1895 to 1945
• The History of Science from 1946 to the 1990s

This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through Internet-based courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently enrolled in this course for the Academic Year 2008/2009 or Summer 2008. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.