Science Matters

These 18 lucid essays cover mainly life and physical sciences, connecting fresh presentations of basic chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy and biology to today's science news. Hazen and Trefil, professors of physical science at George Mason University in Virginia, demystify many advanced topics with succinct, if often reductive analogies: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle becomes a car wreck in a dark tunnel, for example. ``Scientific literacy'' is defined by the authors to mean the ability to comprehend the science we read about daily, as well as to appreciate ``this exceedingly beautiful and elegant view of the world.'' The book's treatment will cause readers to wonder what was so confusing about the Periodic Table of Elements they confronted in their school days. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Feb.)