The Y2K problem is only one demonstration that managers of even nontechnological enterprises can no longer remain blissfully unaware of technical issues. In most businesses, decision makers eventually bump into a subject that requires some grasp of science basics. In technology companies, the fastest-growing segment of the economy, lack of scientific knowledge can even be a barrier to advancement. There are still more profound benefits to be gained by understanding science. Just as history is more than dates and geography more than state capitals, science is more than the periodic table.
Science is a way of looking at the world.
It's a tool to answer questions about who we are, how we came to be and what our place is in the universe. It's also, of course, a way to handle those pressing questions our children ask. The sky has that hue, by the way, because blue light from the sun scatters off molecules in the atmosphere. Christopher Vaughan is a Bay Area science writer who majored in biophysics.