AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE

So, what is this all about? To what level of awareness and knowledge do we aspire?

But if you do not want to bother with questions 1 to 7, please read question 8 for me.

That will answer the question, why it is worthwhile to buy some of my ebooks.

Questions 1 to 4 — explain the meaning of some words related to science and knowledge.

Questions 5 to 7 — give lists of the multitude of subjects in either science or engineering.

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1. Let us consult the dictionaries and understand the meaning of the words we use here.

There are quite a few words we need to examine:

  • Study – is to read, memorize facts in the act of learning. (This is one way of obtaining knowledge.) 
  • Learning – is to acquire knowledge by study or experience or being taught. (These are several methods.)
  • Knowledge – is a collection of facts, information and skills that have been acquired. (This is the end result of the process.)

The above three describe the learning process and its results. But then next question is to what level or extent do we engage in this process? Firstly let us examine the various levels, starting at the lowest.

Ignorant – novice – apprentice/student (=an advanced beginner) –  competent/qualified – proficient – expert/specialist.

  • Competent – The skill level achieved means the person is capable, efficient, and qualified in his/her subject. (Like a batchelor degree.)
  • Proficient – The same level as above, but with some mastery, sometimes specialisation, above the minimum.
  • Expert – This person has a high level of knowledge and experience in his subject. Also he may be acknowledged by his peers for his skill set. (Like a professor.)

2. More dictionary work.

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We can learn something, but how far do we go? Most people do not set out to become an expert, that comes over time and on top of experience. But how do we get ourselves to a level above ignorant? There are five words I want to examine with respect to the level of skill in a subject:

  • Knowledge – This is s static word, meaning that you have ALL the facts on the subject.
  • Understanding – is one step further, it refers to throwing light on the facts (enlightenment), and view them in context. You can see the broader picture and know how the different facts hold together.
  • Comprehension – This is very much the same as understanding, but its true meaning says grasp the nature of something. It takes a slightly broader view on the facts than understanding.
  • NOW WE STEP DOWN THE LADDER.
  • Appreciation – means being fully aware of something and respect something good about it. To realise the worth of something. It does not take into account the competency level.
  • Awareness – This is much the same as appreciation. But the directory gives a slightly different spin on it. Awareness is the knowledge that something exists or is happening. It is realisation, informed alert, and the ability to deal with it.

Having come to this point, this is what I want to achieve with my science and engineering Essays. The AWARENESS of what it is, what is there, and what might happen, sometimes how things work in a broad sense. I would call awareness a lower but acceptable level of understanding of a subject. A step back version.

3. WHAT IS AN ESSAY?

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An Essay is usually a short piece of writing that either:

  • deals with a particular subject of knowledge.
  • Puts up the authors view on a subject.
  • It presents a new theory or idea on a topic.
To put it another way it is not a story, or fiction, or imaginary.

4. WHAT IS STEM?

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The word STEM is an acronym that represents a list of studies that take in the following:

  • S for Science
  • T for Technology
  • E for Engineering
  • M for Mathematics

Now lets examine these four areas of study.

  • None of the first three are possible without the knowledge of Mathematics. Sometimes the branch of mathematics is tuned into the science or engineering.
  • The difference between Engineering and Technology is pretty vague. Engineering can be more theoretical, or fundamental and concentrates on design, where technology has focussed on introducing new products.
  • There is a huge overlap between all the sectors, branches and sub branches. For example chemistry cannot be studied without physics, neither can engineering be studied without science. 

5. LISTS OF SCIENCE SUBJECTS.

DEFINITION OF SCIENCE:

The systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical, natural, and social world around us. 

This is all about how we deal with or group all this knowledge about life around us.

When you want to divide the lists, particularly in science there are 3 main groups and they are:

  • NATURAL: like biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth sciences like (geology, meteorology etc). The top 4 are basic.
  • SOCIAL: like psychology, economics, history, demographics, geography.
  • FORMAL: like mathematics, statistics, logic, computer science. 

Let me just say this:

  • There are some 350 branches or sub branches of science.
  • There are 45 odd life related science branches.
  • When I say sub branches I mean Biology has sub branches
    • Botany and Zoology but also many more.
  • There are cross over branches like biochemistry.
The whole knowledge bank is so vast, that specialisation is inevitable. There are words in that list that I have never seen or heard of in my life. Some I can’t even pronounce properly. Have a look at this list from the link above, it will blow your mind.

I often wondered about subjects like geography and demographics and history. These are all bundled under the social group. I like writing about History, because it teaches us a lot, even though we don’t seem to learn from it. (The saying: history repeats itself – from the French saying: l’histoire se repete.)

 

Engineering is heavy linked to science. It can be a category on its own or it is part of applied science. Very similar as Medical and Veterinary subjects.

And so the lists go on and on.

6. OTHER AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE.

So, we have science, engineering, humanities and those are the topics I will write about.

Then there are other branches of study and the are Literature, Music, Art, Law, Political science and probably more. But I leave those alone.

7. LIST OF ENGINEERING SUBJECTS.

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To be consistent we first need to look at the definition of engineering. Here I found a few explanations:

  • This is concerned with the design, building and use of engines, machines and structure.
  • Another explanation is the use of science, mathematics, and the engineering principles to solve real life problems. Using skills such as innovation, design and construction.

 

The Engineering list is not as vast as science, but there are still nearly 100. I must say this list has a lot more explanation, and is more informative, than the sciences list. But once more five basic ones:

  • Mechanical
  • Civil
  • Chemical
  • Electrical
  • Building (or architecture).

As I said before sometimes Engineering is often in the category of applied science. 

8. WHY WOULD YOU BUY ONE OF MY EBOOKS.

I certainly don’t want to turn you into a scientist or an engineer. These essays are easy to follow. I just want you to have an understanding or to put it better,  BE AWARE of what is there, what it means, what happened, or how some things work. A look at the broader picture. Then you can at least follow things in conversation. You are not completely ignorant.

What is the economics and investment from you:

  • Money.

    Well, if you compare your expenditure to a visit of you and your partner to McDonalds, you will probably spend the same. But after reading this Essay, you will have a lot more long-lasting benefit than a McDonalds meal.

  • Time: It may take you 1hour for the smaller ones to about 4 hours for the larger ones to read it, which is a very small use of time in comparison to the 700,000 hours there are in an average life.
  • Let me show you what i had to do to get this ebook into shape:
    • Everything can be found on the internet.
    • but before you search, you have to know what to search for.
    • then you have to sort out what is credible and not.
    • then find free pictures or tables that best fit the text.
    • then you have to organise things in a logical order and progressively improve the  understanding.
    • then write, read, re-edit, reorganise on and on.
    • your 4 hr reading time compares to my 100 or more hours of work.

I am always surprised how little understanding the majority of people have of scientific subjects. It hits home very often when I listen to media commentators when they talk about climate change. They just do not understand the difference between weather and climate. (Weather is a natural phenomenon, but climate is man made, a study of data collected.) Those are often well-educated people, but I often shake my head when they give an emotional speech to their audience. I often feel sorry for them, because they make a fool of themselves when they provide that emotional message. And that is not all, they also mislead most of their listeners or viewers. And the edict is, that we are supposed to believe our reporters. 

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