The Universal Science (ʿIlm-i kullī) by Mahdī Ḥāʾirī Yazdī, is a concise, but authoritative, outline of the fundamental discussions in Islamic metaphysics. For many years used as a textbook in Iran, this short text offers English readers a readily accessible, lucid, and yet deeply learned, guide through the Sadrian, Avicennan, and Illuminationist schools of thought, whilst also demonstrating how the ‘living tradition’ of Shīʿī philosophy engages with central ontological, epistemological, aetiological, and psychological questions. Discussions include the primacy of existence; the proper classifications of quiddity; and the manifold properties of causality and causal explanation. This is the first of the various influential works authored by this leading Shīʿah intellectual to have been translated into English from the original Persian.

Physicist Sidney Perkowitz, whom the Washington Post calls "a gloriously lucid science writer," exposes the full dimensions of foam in our lives, from cappuccino to the cosmos. Foam affects the taste of beer, makes shaving easier, insulates take-out coffee cups and NASA space shuttles, controls bleeding in trauma victims, aids in drilling for oil, and captures dust particles from comets. The foam of ocean whitecaps affects Earth's climate, and astronomers believe the billions of galaxies that make up the universe rest on surfaces of immense bubbles within a gargantuan foam. From the cultural uses of foam to the cutting edge of foam research in cosmology and quantum mechanics, Perkowitz's investigations will delight readers of Henry Petroski, James Gleick and Michio Kaku.

Examines the laws of physics that govern the universe, covering such topics as planetary motion, Newton's three laws of motion, gravity, the behavior of gases, and quantum mechanics. Includes experiments and activities.

"This book is the result of more than a decade of work with teachers through the Quality Elementary Science Teaching professional development program. We used two frameworks that come together in powerful ways to support student learning in science -- the 5E Learning Cycle and Universal Design for Learning. Using these frameworks encourages teachers to rethink how they have typically approached lessons and to reframe them in ways that mirror how students learn, that provide depth and conceptual coherence, and that support the success of all learners. Implementing these frameworks doesn't require adopting a new curriculum, but working with the existing curricula and resources to identify barriers to learning and possible solutions -- in other words, using a sharper knife, a bigger fork, or a deeper spoon to more effectively deal with what's already on your plate! The information in this book will be useful to individual teachers seeking to improve their craft, or to groups of teachers collaborating to support student success in science. In particular, general educators and special educators who are co-teaching science may find valuable common ground in the ideas presented in the book. Even if you are familiar with these frameworks, we believe you will find something new within these pages"--

Why do catastrophes happen? What sets off earthquakes, for example? What about mass extinctions of species? The outbreak of major wars? Massive traffic jams that seem to appear out of nowhere? Why does the stock market periodically suffer dramatic crashes? Why do some forest fires become superheated infernos that rage totally out of control? Experts have never been able to explain the causes of any of these disasters. Now scientists have discovered that these seemingly unrelated cataclysms, both natural and human, almost certainly all happen for one fundamental reason. More than that, there is not and never will be any way to predict them. Critically acclaimed science journalist Mark Buchanan tells the fascinating story of the discovery that there is a natural structure of instability woven into the fabric of our world. From humble beginnings studying the physics of sandpiles, scientists have learned that an astonishing range of things–Earth’s crust, cars on a highway, the market for stocks, and the tightly woven networks of human society–have a natural tendency to organize themselves into what’s called the “critical state,” in which they are poised on what Buchanan describes as the “knife-edge of instability.” The more places scientists have looked for the critical state, the more places they’ve found it, and some believe that the pervasiveness of instability must now be seen as a fundamental feature of our world. Ubiquity is packed with stories of real-life catastrophes, such as the huge earthquake that in 1995 hit Kobe, Japan, killing 5,000 people; the forest fires that ravaged Yellowstone National Park in 1988; the stock market crash of 1987; the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs; and the outbreak of World War I. Combining literary flair with scientific rigor, Buchanan introduces the researchers who have pieced together the evidence of the critical state, explaining their ingenious work and unexpected insights in beautifully lucid prose. At the dawn of this new century, Buchanan reveals, we are witnessing the emergence of an extraordinarily powerful new field of science that will help us comprehend the bewildering and unruly rhythms that dominate our lives and may even lead to a true science of the dynamics of human culture and history.