The Sciences: An Integrated Approach

The Sciences: An Integrated Approach, 9th Edition by James Trefil and Robert Hazen recognizes that science forms a seamless web of knowledge about the universe. This text fully integrates physics, chemistry, astronomy, Earth sciences, and biology and emphasizes general principles and their application to real world situations. The goal of the text is to help students achieve scientific literacy. Applauded by students and instructors for its easy-to-read style and detail appropriate for non-science majors, the ninth edition has been updated to bring the most up-to-date coverage to the students in all areas of science, with increased emphasis on climate change, sustainability, viruses and public health, and an extensively updated chapter on the importance of bioengineering.

FEATURES INCLUDE:

The Science of Life - To help show the interdisciplinary nature of the many concepts introduced in the text, sections on living things are included in most chapters. The chapters that emphasize principles specifically related to life are at the end of the book, but the biological examples appear throughout.

The Ongoing Process of Science - Science is a never-ending process of asking questions and seeking answers. In these features, some of the most exciting questions currently being addressed by scientists are examined.

Mathematical Equations and Worked Examples - Whenever an equation is introduced, it is presented in three steps: first as a sentence, second as a word equation, and finally in its traditional symbolic form. In this way, students can focus on the meaning rather than the abstraction of the mathematics. An appendix on English and SI units is also included.

Science by the Numbers - To help students understand the importance of simple mathematical calculations in areas of magnitude, several nontraditional calculations have been incorporated. For example, how much solid waste is generated in the United States, how long it would take to erode a mountain, and how many people were required to build Stonehenge.

Great Ideas and Great Ideas Concept - Each chapter begins with a statement of a great unifying idea or theme in science and a concept map so that students immediately grasp the chief concept of the chapter and how the idea relates to the different branches of science. These statements are intended to provide a framework for placing everyday experiences into a broad context.

Stop and Think! Questions challenge students to think critically about the implications of a scientific discovery or principle.

Resources for Instructors and Students including practice quizzes, flashcards, lecture slides, an instructor’s manual, images and tables from the book, a test bank, and much more!

James S. Trefil is the Clarence J Robinson Professor of Physics at George Mason University and author of more than fifty books. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the AAAS, and the World Economic Forum. Much of his published work focuses on science for the general audience. He regularly gives presentations to judges and public officials about the intersections between science and the law. His most recent books are Cosmic Queries, with Neil deGrasse Tyson, which deals with fundamental questions about the universe and was on the New York Times best seller list, and Imagined Life with Michael Summers, which examines the possibility of life on newly discovered exoplanets.

Robert M. Hazen is Senior Staff Scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences, Emeritus, at George Mason University. He is author of more than 400 articles and 25 books on science, history, and music. His book The Story of Earth (Viking-Penguin), was finalist in the Royal Society and Phi Beta Kappa science book competitions. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geochemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America, he received the 2021 IMA Medal, the 2016 Roebling Medal, the Mineralogical Society of America Award and MSA's Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the American Chemical Society Ipatieff Prize. In 2012 he was recipient of Virginia's Outstanding Faculty Award. He has presented numerous named lectures and was Distinguished Lecturer for Sigma Xi and MSA, for which he is a past President. The biomineral "hazenite" and the fossil dolphin Cammackacetus hazenorum were named in his honor.