The philosophy of science seeks to understand the nature and justification of scientific knowledge, and its ethical implications. It has proven difficult to provide an account of the scientific method that can serve to distinguish science from non-science.

Science is reasoned analysis of sensation upon our awareness. As such, the scientific method cannot deduce anything about the realm of reality that is beyond what is observable by existing or theoretical means. When a manifestation of our reality previously considered supernatural is understood in the terms of causes and consequences, it acquires a scientific explanation. For example, God may choose to be hidden from this reality, hence making discussion over God's existence non-scientific.

Mathematics and the scientific method

Mathematics is essential to many sciences. The most important function of mathematics in science is the role it plays in the expression of scientific models. Observing and collecting measurements, as well as hypothesizing and predicting, often require mathematical models and extensive use of mathematics. Mathematical branches most often used in science include calculus and statistics, although virtually every branch of mathematics has applications, even "pure" areas such as number theory and topology. Mathematics is most prevalent in physics, but less so in chemistry, biology, and some social sciences.

Some thinkers see mathematicians as scientists, regarding physical experiments as inessential or mathematical proofs as equivalent to experiments. Others do not see mathematics as a science, since it does not require experimental test of its theories and hypotheses. In either case, the fact that mathematics is such a useful tool in describing the universe is a central issue in the philosophy of mathematics.

Richard Feynman said "Mathematics is not real, but it feels real. Where is this place?", while Bertrand Russell's favourite definition of mathematics was "the subject in which we never know what we are talking about nor whether what we are saying is right."

Goals of science

Despite popular impressions of science, it is not the goal of science to answer all questions. The goal of the physical sciences is to answer only those that pertain to reality. Also, science cannot possibly address nonsensical, or untestable questions, so the choice of which questions to answer becomes important. Science does not and can not produce absolute and unquestionable truth. Rather, physical science often tests hypotheses about some aspect of the physical world, and when necessary revises or replaces it in light of new observations or data.

According to empiricism, science does not make any statements about how nature actually "is"; science can only make conclusions about our observations of nature. Both scientists and the people who accept science believe, and more importantly, act as if nature actually "is" as science claims. Still, this is only a problem if we accept the empiricist notion of science.

Science is not a source of subjective value judgements, though it can certainly speak to matters of ethics and public policy by pointing to the likely consequences of actions. What one projects from the currently most reasonable scientific hypothesis onto other realms of interest is not a scientific issue, and the scientific method offers no assistance for those who wish to do so. Scientific justification (or refutation) for many things is, nevertheless, often claimed. Of course, value judgements are intrinsic to science itself. For example, science values truth and knowledge.

The underlying goal or purpose of science to society and individuals is to produce useful models of reality. It has been said that it is virtually impossible to make inferences from human senses which actually describe what “is.” On the other hand, as stated, science can make predictions based on observations. These predictions often benefit society or human individuals who make use of them. For example, Newtonian physics, and in more extreme cases relativity allow us to predict anything from the effect one moving billiard ball will have on another to things like trajectories of space shuttles and satellites. The social sciences allow us to predict (with limited accuracy for now) things like economic turbulence and also to better understand human behavior and to produce useful models of society and to work more empirically with government policies. Chemistry and biology together have transformed our ability to use and predict chemical and biological reactions and scenarios. In modern times though, these segregated scientific disciplines (notably the latter two) are more often being used together in conjunction to produce more complete models and tools.

In short, science produces useful models which allow us to make often useful predictions. Science attempts to describe what is, but avoids trying to determine what is (which is for practical reasons impossible). Science is a useful tool. . . it is a growing body of understanding that allows us to contend more effectively with our surroundings and to better adapt and evolve as a social whole as well as independently.

Individualism is a tacit assumption underlying most empiricist accounts of science which treat science as if it were purely a matter of a single individual confronting nature, testing and predicting hypotheses. In fact, science is always a collective activity conducted by a scientific community. This can be demonstrated many ways, perhaps the most fundamental and trivial of which is that scientific results must be communicated with language. Thus the values of scientific communities permeate the science they produce.

Locations of science

Science is practiced in universities and other scientific institutes as well as in the field; as such it is a solid vocation in academia, but is also practiced by amateurs, who typically engage in the observational part of science.

Workers in corporate research laboratories also practice science, although their results are often deemed trade secrets and not published in public journals. Corporate and university scientists often cooperate, with the university scientists focusing on basic research and the corporate scientists applying their findings to a specific technology of interest to the company. Although generally this method of co-operation has benefited both the advancement of science and the corporations, it has also, in some cases lead to ethical problems, when the results arrived at in the course of research have had a negative aspect for the financing corporation. A classical example is the history of health research related to smoking.

Individuals involved in the field of science education argue that the process of science is performed by all individuals as they learn about their world.

The methods of science are also practiced in many places to achieve specific goals. For example:

• Quality control in manufacturing facilities (for example, a microbiologist in a cheese factory ensures that cultures contain the proper species of bacteria)
• Obtaining and processing crime scene evidence (forensics)
• Monitoring compliance with environmental laws
• Performing medical tests to help physicians evaluate the health of their patients
• Investigating the causes of a disaster (such as a bridge collapse or airline crash)

Science education

A basic understanding of technology has become indispensible for anyone living in a city or town. This is so because technology, a product of science, is increasingly invading the life of people. The process of learning science begins early in life, for many people; most school students start learning about science as soon as they have basic language skills, and science is then an essential part of curriculum. Science education is also a very vibrant field of study and research. Learning science requires learning its language which often differs from the colloquial native language. For example, the language of physical sciences is rich in mathematical jargon and the language for describing biological objects is rich in Latin words. This difference arises because of the nature of science. The language [1] used to communicate science is rich in words pertaining to concepts, phenomena and processes[2] that are often alien to a child. Most of these words are uniquely used in different fields of science. Teachers and researchers are actively seeking methods to educate and communicate science more effectivly to the novice[3][4].

Fields of science

Natural sciences

Social sciences

Holistic, interdisciplinary, and applied sciences

Environmental sciences

Etymology

The word science comes from the Latin word, scientia, which means knowledge; thus the phrase scientia potentia est: knowledge is power.

Until the Enlightenment, the word science (or its Latin cognate) meant any systematic or exact, recorded knowledge. Science therefore had the same sort of very broad meaning that philosophy had at that time. It should be noted that in (at least) German, Finnish, and Scandinavian languages, the word corresponding "science" (German Wissenschaft) still carries this meaning. Therefore, when arriving in confusion in discussion about science with a lay person from European continent it is worthwhile to make sure that both parties are using "science" in the meaning of English language. The continental person might be including also philosophy and humanities into his definition of wissenschaft.

There was a distinction between, for example, "natural science" and "moral science," which later included what we now call philosophy, and this mirrored a distinction between "natural philosophy" and "moral philosophy." More recently, "science" has come to be restricted to what used to be called "natural science" or "natural philosophy." Natural science can be further broken down into physical science and biological science. Social science is often included in the field of science as well.

Fields of study are often distinguished in terms of hard sciences and soft sciences and these terms (at times considered derogatory) are often synonymous with the terms natural and social science (respectively). Physics, chemistry, biology and geology are all forms of "hard sciences". Studies of anthropology, history, psychology, and sociology are sometimes called "soft sciences." Even within the fields there is sorting of the fields. Although it might be difficult to say whether geology or biology is "harder", physics is usually considered the "hardest". Especially "hard" are the fields of high energy physics and cosmology. In this usage, "hard" means mathematic, or in experimental area, expensive.

Proponents of this division use the arguments that the "soft sciences" do not use the scientific method, admit anecdotal evidence, or are not mathematical, all adding up to a "lack of rigor" in their methods. Opponents of the division in the sciences counter that the "social sciences" often make systematic statistical studies in strictly controlled environments, or that these conditions are not adhered to by the natural sciences either (for example, behavioral biology relies upon fieldwork in uncontrolled environments, astronomy cannot design experiments, only observe limited conditions). Opponents of the division also point out that each of the current "hard sciences" suffered a similar "lack of rigor" in its own infancy.

The term "science" is sometimes pressed into service for new and interdisciplinary fields that make use of scientific methods at least in part, and which in any case aspire to be systematic and careful explorations of their subjects, including computer science, library and information science, and environmental science. Mathematics and computer science reside under "Q" in the Library of Congress classification, along with all else we now call science.

See also

• Organization and practice of science: International Council of Science (ICSU).
• For an understanding of how these fields came to be: History of science.
• See also scientists for catalogs of people active in each of these fields.

See also

External articles and references

Textbooks

• "GSCE science textbook". Wikibooks.org
• National Center for Biotechnology Information Bookshelf
• Science & Engineering books for free download

News and articles

News

• Hypography - Science for everyone
• The Science Site a New Zealand-based zine with realtime news feeds (very popular site, with the world's first Squidcam).
• Daily Science News (German)
• Strange Science and Technology News (Alternative and under-reported video and audio streams with an analysis-ready news network with Online Analytical Processing and embedded Extract, Transform, and Load Data Mining capabilities.)

Articles

• Science-advisor, Online Review of Scientific Articles (Writings of short comments on scientific articles, reviews and letters with a scientific litterature search engine.)

Resources

• "Current Events". New Scientist Magazine, Reed Business Information Ltd.
• "United States Science Initiative". Authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.

Further reading

• "Classification of the Sciences". Dictionary of the History of Ideas.
• Mendoza, Martha, "Allegations of Fake Scientific Research Hit New High; U.S. Fielded Record 274 Scientific Misconduct Complaints Last Year, 50 Percent More Than in 2003". ABC News (Associated Press), July 10, 2005. (source: spinwatch.org)
• Cole, K. C., "Things your teacher never told you about science (Nine shocking revelations!); Maybe you think that science is devoted to gathering and cataloging facts, and that scientists are a dull, deary lot who don't know how to have fun. Maybe you should think again.". Newsday, Long Island, New York, March 23, 1986, pg 21+
• Bauer, Henry H., "Ethics in Science". Chemistry Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.ar:Ш№Щ„Щ…