The title of this section takes a little poke in response to engineer nerd jokes. Isaac Asimov once observed that whereas science and mathematics professors are expected to be learned in basic English and history, the opposite is generally not expected of humanities departments. Indeed, scholars in these areas often seem to take pride in an ignorance of science and technology.         I've not attempted to present here a foundation of knowledge; this would be like trying to introduce Shakespeare on the back of a cereal box. Rather, the following are common misconceptions that, like the faux word irregardless, have taken on a life of their own through sheer presence. This is similar when trying to quote William with:                 A rose is still a rose by any other name. when, of course, the proper wording is:                 That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. (And, even here, many sources claim that Willy wrote "any other name" instead of "any other word").         Eureka! -- the myth of the genius scientist         the size of things         Look, Ma! No hands!         a light year is a long, long time ... huh?         astrology: astronomy's evil impersonator         relativity         quantum mechanics         chips and dip         evolution -- religion and the brain