Science
Before the Age of Reason began in the 1600’s, scientific questions were included with metaphysics as natural philosophy. Because philosophers of the Age of Reason, also called the Enlightenment, felt the universe was based on a few simple mathematical laws, many rules about scientific study were developed which are still in use today. From this development, metaphysics was orphaned off into a field of its own resulting in the advancement of the study of science. Essentially, the word science translates from Latin scientia, as knowledge.
Beginning in the 1600’s continuing through the late 1700’s, the philosophical Enlightenment movement leaders maintained reasoning as the best way to reveal truths. After this period of great intellectual activity, changes led to the development of the modern scientific method of reasoning by observing facts and their relationships, leading to experimentation to determine natural laws. The results of the scientific research gathered and organized, were circulated thanks to the most important development of civilization: the printing press. By the end of the eighteenth century, the study of science progressed to include empirical and experimental explanations.
Even though there are numerous fields, all scientists explore our world by establishing facts and the relationships between them. Now science explores extensive topics of knowledge by systematically studying and organizing general principles. Theories developed have to be verifiable or provable though means of study by other scientists and only when they are found to be repeatable are they found to be true.
A couple of characteristics set science apart from other branches of knowledge. First, other studies, such as humanities including arts, philosophy, and religion, dealing with ideas about the meaning of life, can’t be proven scientifically by experiment. Second, scientific advancement depends on progressing expanding new ideas or replacing old ideas. Applied science has an enormous impact on our everyday lives with modern technology. However, greed and corporate interests now hinder scientific knowledge.
Scientific study is divided into four major branches:
1. mathematics and logics,
2. physical sciences,
3. life sciences, and
4. social sciences.
These main groups are intermingled within as smaller specialties. As the boundaries between these classifications have overlapped, the resulting scientific knowledge has become complicated leading to the establishment of interdisciplinary fields. Scientists communicate their findings through networks, publications, and gatherings. In the late 1970’s, the development of computers enabled scientific knowledge to be proven and exchanged more quickly. In 1990, CERN physicists launched the world’s first Web site http://info.cern.ch/ to transfer information more easily, thereby revolutionizing our world even more.