There are no two ways around it: in order to be a critical thinker, you need to have a basic understanding about how the universe works. Humans, we crafty little buggers, have developed a method by which we can describe the universe, and thereby come nearer to understanding it. That method is called science, or the so-called "Scientific Method."
There are basic tenets of science, founding principles really, which have been developed and proven in experiment after experiment for many years now. Science, much like the law (insert ironic coughing here), acts like a self-referential sounding board to not only prove these basic tenets, but to prove and refine the proof, increasing the reliability that the tenets actually describe the actual universe actually -- "peer review."
How fine the basic nature of these tenets gets depends a lot on your personal expertise. A mathematician may have cause to question, for instance, whether "1 + 1" actually equals "2," and what "1" means anyway, but that level of inquiry is inefficient for the bulk of us. On the other hand, as to most of us, the fact that the universe is expanding is enough to know, but that may not be an assumption an astrophysicist might want to make in her work.
What is the point, you may ask, of bothering to know much about science. The answer is that a knowledge of basic science can keep you from expensive mistakes. For instance, if you're wondering if someone is selling a useful (product, political system, food replacement therapy, overly expensive water purification system, religion, "alternative medicine" (aka "SCAM"), or power enhancing bracelet), a good first step is to compare the claims to certain tenets and see if the proffered thing meets the sniff test. If it does not, place your wallet firmly back into your pocket. [Interesting: google "how to stop getting ripped off" and you'll be able to spend your hard-earned money on books which teach you the same. Ironic?]
Another, related, answer is that a knowledge of science can help you navigate our technological world. Every day we're heaped with new and better stuff, gizmos, and thingymabobs. Each of them has (a group of) scientists working on the science behind them: materials researchers, computer scientists (said with feeling), electrical engineers, technical support/writers, and even packaging engineers! If you know the basis for the science behind the things you use, you can become a better consumer...besides, its just neat! (No, your iPhone does not work by magic, and is not going to give you cancer.)
Yet another reason to know these things is that it makes you a better person. Smart people are savvy people are people who can speak intelligently on all manner of topics. Smart people can make better choices because their brain is functioning, churning out neurons in an effort to keep up, making more room for more information, and (so I've heard) staving off diseases like Alzheimer's. Smart people can, for instance, differentiate between political rhetoric and political discourse. Smart people can choose the lesser of two evils. Smart people are compassionate and moral.
To come...links to the above points, and an actual LIST of the tenets of science every person should know!
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