Science Rules -- The Tenets you should know

According to the Science Cheerleader (thanks TWIT for the heads up), these are the 18 basic tenets of science you need to know to be a smartie pants. I bet there are more, and these are not all "fundamental," but they are a good start. I grouped them into easier-to-remember er...groups, paraphrased them somewhat, and provided little explanations to put each in context (I bet you can come up with other reasons why they are important to a lay-person):

1. Laws and Forces
1. The laws of physics apply everywhere. [ref.] (which means aliens can't travel faster than light, either)
2. Every observer sees the same laws of nature. [ref.] (which means there is no fluidic space)
3. Nuclear energy comes from the conversion of mass. [ref.] (which makes the sun shine brightly)
4. Everything comes in discrete units and you can’t measure anything without changing it. [ref.] (which means there is a smallest unit of something)
5. Electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin (electromagnetism). [ref.] (which means there is no magic)
2. Matter and Energy
1. All elements (those things on the periodic table) are made of atoms. [ref.] (the smallest subunit of an element -- you just gotta know this stuff)
2. Atoms [are composed of protons and neutrons and] are bound by electron glue. [ref.] (meaning atoms are made of something more fundamental still)
3. The way a material behaves depends on how its atoms are arranged. [ref.] (molecules are made of atoms; and matter is made of molecules)
4. [Protons and neutrons] are constructed with quarks and leptons. [ref.] (kinda like stem cells for atoms?)
5. Energy (the ability to do work) is conserved and always moves from more useful to less useful forms. [ref.] (which means that the energy you use has to be transformed into an equal but less useful state and can never be reformed -- so don't waste gasoline)
3. Universe
1. Stars live and stars die. [ref.] (even our Sun, which will, some day, expand and engulf the Earth)
2. The universe was born at a specific time and had been expanding ever since. [ref.] (its about 13 billion years old)
3. The surface of the Earth is constantly changing. [ref.] (which means gay sex did not cause the earthquake on the east coast of the United States in 2011)
4. The Earth operates in many cycles. [ref.] (which means you can use science to divine the tides, location of mineral deposits, and how to solve global warming, and can leave your magic behind)
4. Life
1. All living things are made from cells, the chemical factories of life. [ref.] (the basic unit of life)
2. All life is based on the same genetic code. [ref.] (so far that we've found)
3. All forms of life evolved by natural selection. [ref.] (c'mon, evolution has had billions of years to do it, a creation myth is not required)
4. All life is connected. [ref.] (which means you should get out of your car and onto your bicycle as much as possible)

[Next up: My list of science you need to know.]

Science Rules -- Science and Critical Thinking

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!