Just installed Scientific Linux 6. Does anyone know how to get it to connect to wired ethernet network?

Hello.

Do you know how to determine if the ethernet adapter is working or how to use static or dynamic IP addresses if it is.

Try ifconfig -a to start and tell us if there is a nic other than lo shown.

i'll try to type the output..

# ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:225.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:44 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:44 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:2640 (2.5 KiB) TX bytes:2640 (2.5 KiB)

don't know a damn thing about networks...i know there is nothing wrong with hardware; i get a working network/internet connection with live systems such as knoppix, aptosid etc.

What I see is that no other Ethernet adapter is shown. Basically scientific (red hat) doesn't have the driver for your network interface I am guessing.

Maybe the most easy way would be to boot to a knoppix cd and see what ifconfig -a shows us.

Another way may be to ask why you want scientific? Would some other distro work?