Science Matters Read Online Free PDF Page B

examine complex systems called cells or ants or forests. Each system can be something you hold in your hand, like a rock, or it can be an integral part of something else, like your body’s nervous system.
    The scientific enterprise consists of thousands of specialized subdisciplines—the chemistry of fluorine, the turtles of Malaysia, the properties of young massive stars, the evolution of the AIDSvirus, lasers, quarks, diamonds, slime mold—each with its own practitioners and jargon. These varied specialties differ primarily in the size and contents of the system under study. All systems, be they stars, bugs, or atoms, are governed by the same set of natural laws, but they are studied and described in very different ways.
    Hundreds of thousands of Americans make their livings as scientists. Most of these women and men can be described with one of four broad labels: physicist, chemist, geologist, or biologist. Science is a seamless web of knowledge, but people like to create their niches. So each of the four main science branches (not to mention the hundreds of highly specialized “twigs”) has developed its own distinctive style and organization.
    Physicists study matter and energy, forces and motions—the concepts central to all science. Physicists take pleasure in pointing out that theirs is the most fundamental science, because all other fields, from chemistry to cosmology, mineralogy to molecular biology, depend on a few basic physical principles. Physicists are the generalists among scientists, and fields as far apart as molecular biology and field ecology have benefited from an influx of physicists over the years. Nevertheless, parts of physics have turned into the most abstract of the sciences. Physics conventions are replete with discussions of ten-dimensional space, quarks, and unified field theories. For some reason many physicists, particularly those in universities, seem to enjoy appearing sloppy and disheveled—always the ones without ties at faculty meetings. If you want to make a physicist happy, tell him you thought he was the plumber.
    The American Institute of Physics, based in the Washington, DC area, represents about 100,000 physical scientists, including astronomers, crystallographers, and geophysicists, who are members of ten affiliated societies. The largest of these groups, theAmerican Physical Society, boasts almost 50,000 hard-core phyicists on its membership rolls. These societies sponsor professional meetings, lobby for physics research and education, and publish prestigious research journals such as
The Physical Review
and
Physics Today
.
    Chemists are pragmatists, studying atoms in combinations to discover new and useful chemicals. Most chemists, even those in academia, maintain close ties to industry; science and its applications are seldom far apart. Chemists hold more patents than any other kind of scientist, and they are frequently observed wearing business suits.
    The American Chemical Society, headquartered in the nation’s capital, represents both research chemists and chemical engineers. This blend of science and industry, unique among the major science societies, gives the ACS more than 160,000 members, making it the largest U.S. science society (surpassing even the interdisciplinary American Association for the Advancement of Science in total membership). The American Chemical Society sponsors meetings, supports chemical education, and publishes numerous books and journals, including the weekly
Chemical and Engineering News
. As a lobbying organization, the ACS must walk a fine line between environmentalists and major chemical corporations, both of whom are represented among the membership.
    Geologists are a different breed. They frequently lecture in worn jeans and sturdy boots, seemingly ready to hike miles in the wilderness carrying rocks on their backs. Geology attracts men and women who love the outdoors and like to get their hands dirty. In practice, not all geology is