Why are there seasons? What causes the phases of the Moon? If you asked students, how many would know the correct answers? These were the questions Harvard researchers did ask, of graduating college students, faculty, and children at a first-rate high school. Their findings will utterly startle you. Winner of numerous awards, A Private Universe, the single most influential critique of science teaching vs. student learning, powerfully reveals common misconceptions and the difficulty of successfully addressing them in the classroom.