Science (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge'), in the broadest sense, refers to any systematic knowledge or practice.^[1] In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research.^[2][3] This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word.

Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines:

• Natural sciences, which study natural phenomena (including biological life), and
• Social sciences, which study human behavior and societies.

These groupings are empirical sciences, which means the knowledge must be based on observable phenomena and capable of being experimented for its validity by other researchers working under the same conditions.^[4]

Mathematics, which is sometimes classified within a third group of science called formal science, has both similarities and differences with the natural and social sciences.^[3] It is similar to empirical sciences in that it involves an objective, careful and systematic study of an area of knowledge; it is different because of its method of verifying its knowledge, using a priori rather than empirical methods.^[5] Formal science, which also includes statistics and logic, is vital to the empirical sciences. Major advances in formal science have often led to major advances in the physical and biological sciences. The formal sciences are essential in the formation of hypotheses, theories, and laws,^[6] both in discovering and describing how things work (natural sciences) and how people think and act (social sciences).

Science as discussed in this article is sometimes termed experimental science to differentiate it from applied science, which is the application of scientific research to specific human needs, though the two are often interconnected.

Etymology

The word science comes through the Old French, and is derived from the Latin word scientia for knowledge, which in turn comes from scio, "I know". The Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root that yields scio is *skei-, and it means "cut, separate, or discern". Other words from the same root include Sanskrit chyati, "he cuts off", Greek schizo, "I split" (hence English schism, schizophrenia), Latin scindo, "I split" (hence English rescind).^[7] From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, science or scientia meant any systematic recorded knowledge.^[8] Science therefore had the same sort of very broad meaning that philosophy had at that time. In other languages, including French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, the word corresponding to science also carries this meaning.

From classical times until the advent of the modern era, "philosophy" was roughly divided into natural philosophy and moral philosophy. In the 1800s, the term natural philosophy gradually gave way to the term natural science. Natural science was gradually specialized to its current domain, which typically includes the physical sciences and biological sciences. The social sciences, inheriting portions of the realm of moral philosophy, are currently also included under the auspices of science to the extent that these disciplines use empirical methods. As currently understood, moral philosophy still retains the study of ethics, regarded as a branch of philosophy.

Today, the primary meaning of "science" is generally limited to empirical science involving use of the scientific method.^[9] Examples of the broader use include political science and computer science, which are named according to an older and more general use of the word "science".

Scientific method

In Australia, CSIRO

In France, Centre national de la recherche scientifique

In Germany, Max Planck Society and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

In Spain, CSIC

In Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences

See also

Science Portal

Main lists: List of basic science topics and List of science topics

Controversy	Fringe science Junk science Pathological science Pseudoscience Relationship between religion and science Creation-evolution controversy Scientific misconduct Scientific skepticism (cf. Pseudoskepticism)
History	History of science and technology Historiography of science Protoscience Scientific constants named after people Scientific laws named after people Scientific phenomena named after people Scientific revolution Scientific units named after people
Philosophy	Philosophy of science Rhetoric of science Scientific method Antiscience

• History of science (how the various fields of science came to be)
• Scientist (lists of people active in each of these fields)
• Engineering (natural science applied)
• Fields of science
• Knowledge (goal of science)
• List of inventors
• List of publications in science
• Mathematics (complements science, and is its main tool)
• Military funding of science
• Perfection
• Philosophy (foundation of inquiry)
  • Philosophy of science (foundation of science)
    • Karl Popper
• Politics (social science applied)
• Scientific computing
• Scientific data archiving
• Scientific enterprise
• Scientific materialism
• Technology (result of science)
• Science and technology

Notes

1. ^ http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/science Merriam Webster definition of science, Retrieved September 12, 2007 "2 a : a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study <the science of theology> b : something (as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge <have it down to a science>"
2. ^ "science" defined by various dictionaries at "reference.com"
3. ^ ^{a b} (Popper 1959, p. 3)
4. ^ (Popper 1959, p. 20)
5. ^ (Popper 1959, pp. 10–11)
6. ^ (Popper 1959, pp. 79–82)
7. ^ Etymology of "science" at Etymology Online. See also details of the PIE root at American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, 2000..
8. ^ MacMorris, Neville (1989). The Natures of Science. New York: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, pp. 31–33. . 
9. ^ See, e.g. [1]. The first usage, which is fairly representative of standard dictionaries today, describes science as: "a. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena. b. Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena. c. Such activities applied to an object of inquiry or study." From the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003
10. ^ Logik der Forschung, new appendix *XIX (not yet available in the English edition Logic of scientific discovery)
11. ^ Karl Popper: On the non-existence of scientific method. Realism and the Aim of Science (1983)
12. ^ Karl Popper: Objective Knowledge (1972)
13. ^ See: Editorial Staff (March 7, 2007). Scientific Method: Relationships among Scientific Paradigms. Seed magazine. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
14. ^ Critical examination of various positions on this issue can be found in Karl R. Popper's The Poverty of Historicism.
15. ^ Siepmann, J. P. (1999). "What is Science? (Editorial)". Journal of Theoretics 3. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
16. ^ Richardson, R. H. (Dick) (January 28, 2001). Economics is NOT Natural Science! (It is technology of Social Science.). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
17. ^ Staff (May 19, 2006). Behavioral and Social Science Are Under Attack in the Senate. American Sociological Association. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
18. ^ Parrott, Jim (August 9, 2007). Chronicle for Societies Founded from 1323 to 1599. Scholarly Societies Project. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
19. ^ Benvenuto nel sito dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italian). Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
20. ^ Brief history of the Society. The Royal Society. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
21. ^ Meynell, G.G.. The French Academy of Sciences, 1666-91: A reassessment of the French Académie royale des sciences under Colbert (1666-83) and Louvois (1683-91). Topics in Scientific & Medical History. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.

References

• Feyerabend, Paul K. 2005. Science, history of the philosophy of. Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford.
• Papineau, David. 2005. Science, problems of the philosophy of. Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford.
• Popper, Karl [1959] (2002). The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 2nd English edition, New York, NY: Routledge Classics, 3. . OCLC 59377149. 
• Richard P. Feynman. "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out"

Further reading

• A Book List of Popularized Natural and Behavioral Sciences
• Baxter, Charles "Myth versus science in educational systems"PDF (66.4 KiB)
• "Classification of the Sciences". Dictionary of the History of Ideas.
• Cole, K. C., Things your teacher never told you about science: Nine shocking revelations Newsday, Long Island, New York, March 23, 1986, pg 21+
• Feynman, Richard "Cargo Cult Science"
• Krige, John, and Dominique Pestre, eds., Science in the Twentieth Century, Routledge 2003,
• MacComas, William F. "The principal elements of the nature of science: Dispelling the myths"PDF (189 KiB) Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Direct Instruction News. Spring 2002 24–30.
• "Nature of Science" University of California Museum of Paleontology
• Obler, Paul C.; Estrin, Herman A. (1962). The New Scientist: Essays on the Methods and Values of Modern Science. Anchor Books, Doubleday. 

External links

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Journals

• Science
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Textbooks:

• "GSCE Science textbook". Wikibooks.org
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News:

• Current Events. New Scientist Magazine, Reed Business Information, Ltd.
• ScienceDaily
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Resources:

• The Vega Science Trust Hours of science video including scientific lectures (Feynman, Kroto, Davis, etc.), discussions (nanotechnology, GM, stem cells, etc.), career programmes, interviews with Nobel Laureates, and school resources.
• United States Science Initiative. Selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.
• Science Resources

Fun science:

• Science Fun for Kids
• ScienceMadeSimple Resources
• Who was the greatest Scientist ever?
• Live Science Experiments and Easy Science Experiments for Kids
• Null Hypothesis, the Journal of Unlikely Science Fun, interesting, wacky science
• Scientific AmeriKen: Delving into all the sciences for the purpose of gathering statistics and knowledge for the benefit of mankind.
• http://www.tryengineering.org Features "Ask an Engineer," engineering games, college searches, and other resources for students, parents, and teachers
• This Week in Science Radio show that gives a hip and irreverent take on current science news.
• Science Projects for Kids Easy and fun science projects that you can try at home with your kids. Great ideas for science fair projects!
• Science Made Fun: Making science fun for people of all ages!

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