Understanding the Misconceptions of Science

Consider these commonly held scientific beliefs: Planetary orbits are fixed ellipses; we only use 10 percent of our brains; nothing travels faster than light; a thrown object’s trajectory is a parabola. They seem correct, but they’re all misconceptions that aren’t entirely accurate. There’s much more to the story than you think.

These magnificent 24 lectures are devoted to busting myths, clearing up confusion, and giving you scientific epiphanies that could change how you think about your everyday world. You’ll explore shocking truths about some of science’s most well-known – and often controversial – concepts, including the physics of flight, black holes, quantum mechanics, and even the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Delivered with insight, clarity, and a healthy dose of humor, Professor Lincoln’s scientific epiphanies will have you rethinking what you know – or thought you knew – about the world of science. Learn to see matter not as simple spheres but force fields. Discover why most human characteristics aren’t governed by a single gene. Examine why astronauts in the International Space Station aren’t in zero gravity but free fall. And those are just a few.

These lectures are, above all, about awareness and respect for what an immense undertaking scientific inquiry and experimentation is. Regardless of where you are in your own scientific adventures, they’ll empower you with not just good science, but better science.

About the Author

Don Lincoln is a Senior Scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). He is also a Guest Professor of High Energy Physics at the University of Notre Dame. He received his Ph.D. in Experimental Particle Physics from Rice University.

Dr. Lincoln’s research has been divided between Fermilab’s Tevatron Collider, until its close in 2011, and the CERN Large Hadron Collider, located outside Geneva, Switzerland. The author of more than 1,000 scientific publications, his most noteworthy accomplishments include serving on the teams that discovered the top quark in 1995 and confirmed the Higgs boson in 2012. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His writing at a popular level includes many articles as well as four books: Understanding the Universe, The Quantum Frontier, The Large Hadron Collider, and Alien Universe. His enthusiasm for science education earned him the 2013 Outreach Prize from the High Energy Physics Division of the European Physical Society.

Dr. Lincoln has given hundreds of lectures on four continents to a broad range of audiences. He is a blogger for the website of the PBS television series NOVA, and he also writes a weekly column for the online periodical Fermilab Today.

Product details

• Full Audiobook MP3 Program
• Full PDF E-Book Included
• Listening Length : 12 hours and 4 minutes
• Author : Don Lincoln, The Great Courses
• Narrator : Don Lincoln
• Release Date : May 24, 2019
• Publisher : The Great Courses
• Version : Original recording
• Language : English
• ASIN B07RZM99RN